" BTW, if it is true that NYS's regulations are the toughest in the nation, we are all in deep trouble all over this country. "

" Show me the Nutrient Management Plans period! If they are so good and so safe, why are they secret documents the public is not allowed to see? It all sounds good on paper, but in reality it's another matter all together. The regulations are not sufficient even if they were enforced, which they absolutely are not. If only the CAFO has a copy of its NMP, and only the DEC can ask to see it (if they happen to do one of their very rare "inspections"), how can the DEC tell if the CAFO is staying within its guidelines? All they have is the CAFO's self-kept NMP and the CAFO's self-kept record of how much they spread, and when and where and under what weather conditions. There is nothing to stop them from lying about it. My well is polluted with e-coli. So is my landlady's well, and 2 neighboring wells too. I've taken the time to count truckloads of manure spread on just one of the fields surrounding my home, and to find out how many gallons in each truckload, and do all the math with the assistance of a friend with the USDA in another state and in just 2 days the spreading had already exceeded the max possible for any plot of land that size -- and they've continued to spread on that bit of land all summer and fall since the 2 days I spent counting. You can't tell me these industrial agribusinesses are staying within safe bounds for our water, air and health. nlw is right -- it's the quantity. A small family farm with 50-100 animals, spreading fresh manure daily on a different bit each day when they have enough acres to safely take that manure is a environmentally healthy way to recycle waste as fertilizer. But greedy corporate agribusinessmen have way too many animals, often kept in unhealthy and inhumane conditions (necessitating the increased use of antibiotics and other chemicals), spread way too much manure -- too much for the land to bear -- and now it is in our water, in our soil, in our air -- and making us all sick. If FARMING is to survive in NYS, we need to support environmentally and socially healthy family farming, not huge corporate farms which are destroying our environment, quality of life and general health. "

" The comment about having regulations that exceed the Clean Water Act sound heroic, too bad that those exact regulations are out-dated and do not take into consideration the expansion of CAFO’s and the disasterous effects they have had in this country. (show me proof of a CAFO that has NOT contaminated local water supplies) Also, spreading manure is nothing new to farming, it’s the antibiotics and large amounts of waste that contain these chemicals that are causing great concern among the community. You are a wolf in sheep’s clothing. "