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Twenty-nine of 57 poultry farms that EIP reviewed reported to the state that they had been applying illegal amounts of animal manure on their crop fields in 2019. However, excessive phosphorus on fields can get into waterways after storms, which risks algal blooms and sucks up the oxygen needed by fish.Īccording to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, agriculture runoff is the largest source of pollution into the Chesapeake Bay, contributing to 40% of the nitrogen and 50% of phosphorus in the Bay. Adding manure to fields can help provide nutrients for crops, especially when soils are low in phosphorus.
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The state has limits on how much manure farmers can apply to fields that already have high soil phosphorus levels. For the last nine months, EIP reviewed more than 5,000 pages of poultry operation inspection reports and other state records to evaluate how much oversight there is of the state’s poultry operations. The Environmental Integrity Project report is based on public records obtained from MDE and MDA from Maryland’s Public Information Act law.
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Where we do find environmental concerns we focus on returning facilities to compliance with regulations, but we will go after polluters and impose financial penalties when needed.” A high percentage of violations that are found are associated with record-keeping requirements, as opposed to water quality issues. But, he said, “The Maryland Department of the Environment, in coordination with the Maryland Department of Agriculture, maintains a strong program to enforce environmental regulations pertaining to poultry operations. Jay Apperson, a spokesman for MDE, said he could not comment on the report’s findings because MDE has not seen it. Two thirds of the inspected poultry farms failed due to waste management problems and 95% failed to file annual reports to the state or maintain records about their operations, the report by the Environmental Integrity Project on Maryland’s poultry industry found.ĭespite the failed inspections, the report found that the Maryland Department of the Environment, which is responsible for issuing water pollution control permits for animal feeding operations and for enforcing the federal Clean Water Act, imposed fines on only eight of the 78 facilities with repeated violations, and collected fines from only four poultry farms. Out of 182 poultry farms that were inspected, 153 failed their initial inspection and 78 failed follow-up inspections from 2017 to 2020.
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Sign up for Maryland Matters’ free email subscription today.Įighty-four percent of poultry farms in Maryland failed their first state inspection over the last several years, most due to inadequate waste management and failure to keep records - but the state rarely penalized poultry farms for their violations, according to a recent report by an environmental watchdog organization. This content was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partners at Maryland Matters. Business & Finance Click to expand menu.