By John Sutter
Because I know you didn’t spend the whole weekend sifting through newspapers, here are a few articles of eco-interest you may have missed.
Pig waste: Overnight last Wednesday, a Tyson Foods hog farm in southeast Oklahoma spewed liquid manure — 10,000 gallons of it — all over a field on its property. The spill is being called an accident by Tyson and the state Department of Agriculture. Its spokesman, Jack Carson, said regulatory action is unlikely. Terri Savage, who’s a member of the state environmental quality board, said pig farms like Tyson’s are a “ticking time bomb” for accidents such as this. Oklahoma is the 8th largest pig producer in the nation, with more than 2 million pigs.
Canadian River: A new state study shows creeks and rivers in the Canadian River watershed — which flows across south-central Oklahoma and through Norman — often are contaminated with bacteria 50 to 100 times state standards. Such contamination is common in Oklahoma and the country, but it means swimming can in these waters be risky for some people, particularly the old and young. Most of the pollution is thought to come from animal agriculture. (you can send comments to the DEQ at an address listed on this public notice.)
Drought: Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Terry Peach is scheduled to visit the drought-stricken Oklahoma Panhandle this week. The situation there has been compared to the Dust Bowl by climatologists and Dust Bowl survivors. Locals have asked state officials to visit the area, and are pleased about Peach’s trip. The drought has received the government’s most severe drought rating. Climatologists in Oklahoma say the situation is consistent with predictions for drought patterns in a warming climate.
Oil spill: A leaky storage tank at Tall Grass Petroleum spilled about 10,000 gallons of oil near Skiatook on June 16. Rain carried the oil into nearby creeks, and environmental officials are still working to clean up the mess. Officials say ecosystems were not damaged by the spill. An environmental official with the Osage Nation, which owns some of the damaged land, said the oil was 3 inches thick on the water in some places. She said clean-up efforts were going well.
