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Transcript - Farm Futures Radio Interview with Regional Administrator Karl Brooks Setting the Record Straight on Feedlot's False Claims of “Hay as a Pollutant”
[Farm Broadcaster Jason Vance] Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency inspected a feedlot in St. Francis, Kan., that disclosed some violations of the feedlot operator permit. The inspector discussed the findings with the operator, Mike Callicrate, and prepared a Notice of Violation indicating changes that needed to be made. This carries no monetary penalty. It's just an effort to make sure that the operator understands the changes he needs to make to stay compliant with his permit. Shortly after that, Callicrate began attacking EPA online, claiming they said hay was a water pollutant. EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks says it's important to stick to the facts and they felt like they needed to set the record straight.
[Karl Brooks] So the violation was on the basis of these uncontrolled, unmanaged feedstocks that included things like distillers grain and other feed. It did not include hay. Nothing in the Notice of Violation, nothing in our communications with Callicrate, and nothing in the release that announced the violation said that he was being notified because he had hay improperly stored. It was distillers grain silage and other feeds that leach water pollutants.
[Jason Vance] Brooks says that while everyone is entitled to their own opinion, whether it's about EPA or anything else, they are not entitled to their own facts.
[Karl Brooks] We wanted to be sure that we shared with farmers and ranchers the facts about our inspection of the Callicrate feedyard, the facts about the conversations we had with management there, the facts about the Notice of Violation, and especially to take on this myth that Mr. Callicrate's promoting that EPA noticed him for violations because of hay. That is not factual. It is wrong. It is incorrect and really it's kind of inflammatory.
[Jason Vance] Brooks says responsible agriculture media and agricultural organizations did the right thing by contacting EPA and asking for the facts when Callicrate began spinning this story. He says by sharing the true facts with them, their perceptions and conclusions about the situation have been very good.
[Karl Brooks] While EPA is not exactly the most popular federal agency out on the farm and ranch, that in this case EPA was doing what the law required us to do and that Mr. Callicrate was engaging in unnecessary and inflammatory misstatements.
[Jason Vance] According to Brooks, Callicrate's legal team recognized immediately that changes needed to be made at the feedlot. They contacted EPA and told them that the inspector had found violations that warranted the notice, and that their client would make those changes.
[Karl Brooks] At a time when it's even more important for everybody involved in environmental protection, farming and ranching to deal on the basis of facts and law and to have our disagreements in a civil, respectful way, this was one that we just needed to try to push back on right from the start because it was not based on fact. It was argumentative and in a lot of ways incorrect.
[Jason Vance] That's EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks. For Farm Futures Radio, I'm Jason Vance.
