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Alts, Farm Bureau Victorious in Lawsuit Against
Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. District Court for
the Northern District of West
Virginia has ruled in favor of
Lois Alt in her lawsuit against
the Environmental Protection
Agency.
Alt, operator of Eight is
Enough Farm in Old Fields,
filed suit against the EPA
in 2012, following an EPA
visit to her poultry operation
in Hardy County. The EPA
claimed that under the Clean
Water Act, a National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES) permit was required
for stormwater runoff from her
farm, because it came in contact
with dust, feathers or tiny
bits of manure on the ground.
Alt, who has been recognized
numerous times by Pilgrim’s
Pride for her environmental
stewardship, contended it was a
normal occurrence in farming,
and that agricultural stormwater
is exempt from permitting under
the Clean Water Act. She was
2 West Virginia Farm Bureau News
threatened by the EPA with fines
of up to $37,500 per day if she
did not obtain a permit.
West Virginia Farm Bureau
and the American Farm Bureau
Federation were granted
intervenor status in the case,
believing that any decision
rendered would be felt across
agriculture.
In April of this year, the
federal court rejected efforts
by EPA to avoid defending its
position by withdrawing the
order against Alt. In opposing
EPA’s motion to dismiss, Alt and
Farm Bureau argued that farmers
remained vulnerable to similar
EPA orders, and the important
legal issue at stake should be
resolved. The court agreed.
In his decision handed
down October 23, Judge John
Preston Bailey wrote, “This
Court declares that the litter
and manure which is washed
from the Alt farmyard…
by a precipitation event is
an agricultural stormwater
discharge…thereby rendering it
exempt from the NPDES permit
requirement of the Clean Water
Act.”
“This is not only a victory
for the Alts, but for farmers
everywhere,” said Steve Butler,
West Virginia Farm Bureau
administrator. “Lois Alt stood
her ground because she knew
she was right, and she knew it
was the right thing to do, not just
for herself, but for all farmers.”
Farm and Dairy editor Susan
Crowell wrote that all farmers
should send Alt a thank-you
note. “It could’ve been your
farm,” she said.
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