Why H.O.P.E Was Created

H.O.P.E. was created in Maricopa AZ by a group of residents who care about public health and who are willing to work together to clean up our polluted air. Helping Our Polluted Environment.

Here in Maricopa not only is the air quality exceeding in PM10 it is also exceeding in PM2.5. The polluted air here is the "worst" in the county according to resports.

Now what is PM10 and PM2.5?

http://www.airinfonow.org/html/ed_particulate.html

Both PM10 (big) and PM2.5 (small) particles can cause health problems; specifically respiratory health (that's the lungs and airway). Because the PM2.5 travels deeper into the lungs AND because the PM2.5 is made up things that are more toxic (like heavy metals and cancer causing organic compounds), PM2.5 can have worse health effects than the bigger PM10.Exposure to particulate matter leads to increased use of medication and more visits to the doctor or emergency room. Health effects include the following:

• Coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath
• Aggravated asthma
• Lung damage (including decreased lung function and lifelong respiratory disease)
• Premature death in individuals with existing heart or lung diseases

Since 1997, for Animal Waste in Pinal County 85239 it's already at 100% Counties with Most Waste in the US for Cattle, Poultry, Sheep, Nitrogen in Waste, Nitrogen lost to atmosphere and Phosphorus in waste.
http://www.scorecard.org/env-releases/aw/county.tcl?fips_county_code=04021#rankings

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does acknowledge that Maricopa, AZ has the worst air quality and is planning to place Maricopa, AZ in a Nonattainment Area.

Nonattainment Area meaning: An area that does not meet one or more of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for the criteria pollutants designated in the Clean Air Act.

Going into a Nonattainment Area will have some negative affects on the city of Maricopa. We need to stand together as a group and let our voices be heard that "We are FED up with this and we demand a healthy environment for all citizens of Maricopa"

Swine Flu Outbreak -- Nature Biting Back at Industrial Animal Production?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/swine-flu-outbreak----nat_b_191408.html

This is one of the reason why these industrialized farms need to be held accountable for their pollution into the air as well as in the water. The animals need to be cared for more closely as well as the workers.

Confined Animal Feeding Operations Cost Taxpayers Billions, New Report Finds

http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/cafo-costs-report-0113.html

"CAFOs aren't the natural result of agricultural progress, nor are they the result of rational planning or market forces," said Doug Gurian-Sherman, a senior scientist in UCS's Food and Environment Program and author of the report. "Ill-advised policies created them, and it will take new policies to replace them with more sustainable, environmentally friendly production methods."

"CAFOs Uncovered: The Untold Costs of Confined Animal Feeding Operations" enumerates the policies that have allowed CAFOs to dominate U.S. meat and dairy production. For example, it found that from 1997 to 2005 taxpayer-subsidized grain prices saved CAFOs nearly $35 billion in animal feed, which comprises a large percentage of their supply costs. Cattle operations that raise animals exclusively on pasture land do not benefit from the subsidy. (To read the full report, go to: http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_environment/sustainable_food/cafos-uncovered.html)

The report also details how other federal policies give CAFOs hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to address their pollution problems, which stem from the manure generated by thousands, if not tens of thousands, of animals confined in a small area. The report estimates that CAFOs have received $100 million in annual pollution prevention payments in recent years through the federal Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which was established by the 2002 Farm Bill.

"If CAFOs were forced to pay for the ripple effects of harm they have caused, they wouldn't be dominating the U.S. meat industry like they are today," said Margaret Mellon, director of UCS's Food and Environment Program. "The good news is that we can institute new policies that support animal production methods that benefit society rather than harm it."

Protection of Children From Environment Health Risks and Safety Risks

http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/eo/eo13045.htm

Executive Order 13045--Protection of Children From Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks

[Federal Register: April 23, 1997 (Volume 62, Number 78)][Presidential Documents][Page 19883-19888]From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov][DOCID:fr23ap97-130]

(a) shall make it a high priority to identify and assess environmental health risks and safety risks that may disproportionately affect children; and

(b) shall ensure that its policies, programs, activities, and standards address disproportionate risks to children that result from environmental health risks or safety risks.2-203.

``Environmental health risks and safety risks''mean risks to health or to safety that are attributableto products or substances that the child is likely tocome in contact with or ingest (such as the air webreath, the food we eat, the water we drink or use forrecreation, the soil we live on, and the products weuse or are exposed to).

Research on air quality in Maricopa

http://www.85239.com/OPINION/OpinionArticleDetails.aspx?mid1=439&&ArticleID=5893


By James Hull, Ph.D.
May 18, 2009

Public concerns about the environmental effects of air emissions from livestock operations have grown as the population continues to move into what has been largely a rural farming area. Increasingly, there is a growing public awareness of the health and nuisance impacts caused by Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) with significant concern not only to new residents but also to many long-time residents. Conflicts over resource use are bound to arise with competing interests and density of growth.

Ask almost any Arizona native about the five C's, and you'll most likely hear a recitation of "copper, cattle, cotton, citrus, and climate" as the traditional components of the state's economy. For several decades, agriculture has flourished in the western half of Pinal County on the broad, flat alluvial plains associated with the Gila and Santa Cruz river basins. Cattle, cotton, and
limate has retained an important role in defining western Pinal County’s character and heritage.

Feedlot Stakeholder Process

http://pinalcountyaz.gov/Departments/AirQuality/Pages/FeedlotStakeholderProcess.aspx

Public participation is a vital role in the stakeholder process. Stakeholders have the ability to shape their environment. This process was initiated to allow stakeholders an opportunity to learn about PM10-Feedlot issues facing Pinal County and to participate in formulating a response. Participants may include: Arizona Cattle Feeder’s Association, Arizona Home Builder’s Association, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, Environmental Protection Agency, local municipalities, individual companies, concerned citizens, local dairies and feedlots. Meeting agendas, presentations, and resource materials will be posted as they become available. If you would like to request further information, or have questions regarding posted information, please contact us.

Editorial:PM10 issues in Pinal County and City of Maricopa

http://8523mine.com/?p=522#more-522

It’s not me; it’s not thee; it’s not the others behind the tree!
Public concerns about the environmental effects of air emissions from livestock operations have grown as the population continues to move into what has been largely a rural farming area. Increasingly, there is a growing public awareness of the health and nuisance impacts caused by Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) with significant concern not only to new residents but also to many long-time residents. Conflicts over resource use are bound to arise with competing interests and density of growth.

James Reynolds Hull, Ph.D. - Friend of H.O.P.E. (Helping Our Polluted Environment)

Raising standards from county to city has put Planning Department in the line of fire

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18956110&BRD=1817&PAG=461&dept_id=517487&rfi=6

When developers began eyeing Maricopa as a potential boomtown there was only Pinal County Planning Department between them and anything they wanted to do. The city didn't incorporate until October 2003, so most of what now stands in Maricopa or is still on the planning boards, was approved prior to that by the county.

Antibiotics and Industrial Farming

http://www.ncifap.org/

Every day, doctors use antibiotics to treat thousands of sick children and adults. Humans depend on these life-saving medicines for their personal health. But did you know that as much as 70 percent of all antibiotics sold in the U.S. are being fed to cattle, swine, and poultry on industrial animal farms, for purposes other than treating disease? Click here to learn more about how antibiotic use in food production threatens human health in the Human Health and Industrial Farming program by The Pew Charitable Trusts
www.saveantibiotics.org

Group forms to fight pollution

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20307679&BRD=1817&PAG=461&dept_id=68561&rfi=8

Buying a brand new home in a brand new community seemed like a dream to most people who bought into Maricopa, AZ. There seemed to be so many promises of greatness and growing. The farms were being sold the cows were being moved out. There was going to be a hospital and an over-pass over the tracks. So much hope that turned out to be false hope. The farms and the cattle, "Cowtown" and all are here to stay! This is where the dream became a scare.

Articles on the Stakeholders Meeting

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20305156&BRD=1817&PAG=461&dept_id=68561&rfi=8

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20304125&BRD=1817&PAG=461&dept_id=68561&rfi=8

Handouts from PM10 Stakeholders Meeting April 17, 2009

Stakeholder Meeting April 17, 2009

http://pinalcountyaz.gov/Departments/AirQuality/Documents/Public%20Notices/ANPRMV3.pdf

This information should have been made more public to the citizens of Maricopa. This meeting was a PM10 Stakeholders Meeting in regards to: Initial stakeholder discussion of the accompanying draft of a rule establishing PM10-related emission standards for commercial feedlots.

"The number of PM10 exceedances at the Cowtown monitor dwarfs the number at any other monitoring site. While other monitors in Pinal County report as many as 25 or 30 exceedances per year, the Cowtown monitor stands alone in consistently reporting more than 200 exceedances per year."

"At the Cowtown monitor, manure constitutes the dominant fraction of PM10. A 7 chemical speciation study found that at PM10 monitors other than the Cowtown monitor, manure constituted no more than 20% of observed particulate matter. However, at the Cowtown monitor a chemical speciation analysis indicated that more than 60% of observed particulate matter consisted of manure."

"The combination of the number of PM10 exceedances and the very high PM10 concentrations observed at the Cowtown monitor result in the AIRS AQS system reporting that for PM10, Pinal County constitutes the most polluted place in the country."

Who Pays to Clean Up CAFO Waste?

http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/food_and_agriculture/cafo_issue-briefing-low-res.pdf

Taxpayers pay to clean up CAFO waste—yet most CAFO pollution remains. CAFOs produce some 300 million tons of untreated manure each year (about twice as much as is generated by the entire human population of the United States). The disposal and cleanup cost for all of this manure would hobble CAFOs if they had to pay for it themselves. But another program authorized by the federal farm bill, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), subsidizes the cleanup of some CAFO waste.

Can composting the manure solve the CAFO's waste problem?

http://michigan.sierraclub.org/issues/greatlakes/articles/cafofaqs.html

In short, no. And, as you read the bulleted list below, remember that a Michigan CAFO can have a compost pile within 200 feet of its neighbor.

In addition to manure and other materials, CAFO compost piles may have up to 20,000 pounds of dead animals in one pile (and if just one animal had mad cow disease and this pile is spread on the land, the prions could enter the food or milk supply). For more information on prions, see the Center for Disease Control Prion Diseases webpage.

• CAFO compost piles draw vermin, rats, flies, coyotes, and vultures.
• Most CAFO compost sites do not have runoff containment structures, and the nutrient-rich liquids can cause algae blooms if they reach surface waters.
• The odors emitted can become very strong if the composting is not done correctly.

There is a composting site along "Cowtown". Some believe that composting the manure solves the situation of "too much manure". According to this information it does nothing to help, but to make wallets more fatter meanwhile public health is put at risk. Here there are about, if not more than a half a million cattle. Now think how much manure they can create? Can all of it be used or is some just decomposing? This information is based off of Dairy CAFOs http://www.sraproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/dairytalkingpoints.pdf

Now what happens when "manure" decomposes? Decomposing animal manure gives off a variety of gases including hydrogen sulphide, carbon dioxide and methane. Of all these gases, hydrogen sulphide or more commonly called manure gas, is the most dangerous. Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S) has been responsible for many animal deaths as well as occasional human deaths.

http://www.cdc.gov/nasd/docs/d001501-d001600/d001535/d001535.html

Manure Gas Danger:

http://www.cdc.gov/nasd/docs/d001601-d001700/d001616/d001616.html

Now do we just sit back and do nothing? This city was built around the feedlots and clearly it was known that there was extereme health risk to humans as well as a threat to the environment here. We are here now, some of us were lied to about the farms being sold and the cattle being moved by their home builder. Ours was Hacienda Builders who was yours if you were lied to about the same thing? According to Pinal Co. there was never an agreement for the farms to be sold nor the cattle to be moved. The developer, the builders and Pinal County should have ensured public safety before building and allowing people to move into such horrific conditions. As our rights we should have been notified of such conditions and not lied to. Now the feedlots knew they were kicking in major pollution into the air and possibly the water and because of this Maricopa will be placed in a Nonattainment Area. If they also cared about the public safety why wasn't something done in 2005, 2006, 2007 & 2008? Why is there such a panic now? Is it because people are complaining of the air quality? As for the reduced odor, what is happening is that the manure is being sprayed with water and some kind of chemical to keep down the odors. Do you think that solves the issue? Or do you think it could create more leakage into the groud water?

A open letter to the Mayor of Maricopa

http://maricopa360.com/?p=4566#more-4566

This article was written by James Reynolds Hull, PhD who is part of Helping Our Polluted Environment.

Air Quality Summit 2008 EPA Region 9's Perspective Report

http://pinalcountyaz.gov/Departments/AirQuality/Documents/AQSummit/ColleenMckaughan.pdf

What this article is, it's the Pinal County Air Quality Summit 2008 EPA Region 9's Perspective dated November 7, 2008. Where it talks about Particulate Matter and what it is and how it affects human health. Large particles of PM10 deposit in the upper respiratory tract and smaller particles of PM10 penetrate deep into the lungs. You will also read that many scientific studies have linked breathing particle pollution to a series of significant health problems such as:

• Aggravated Asthma
• Increases in respiratory symptoms like coughing and difficult or painful breathing
• Chronic Bronchitis
• Decreased Lung Funtion
• Premature death in people with heart or lung disease
  

On page 6 it's about the EPA Region 9's Perspective on Pinal County's PM-10 Status Pinal county has violated the PM10 standard since 2002:

• In 2002, two violating monitors
• In 2008, seven violating monitors
• Cowtown monitor is the worst

On page 9 there is a chart that shows PM10 Violations in Pinal County, Arizona and the expected number of days per year exceeding the 24-hour standard. Worst PM10 Air Quality sites in the USA 2005-2007. Pinal Co. - Cowtown is top of the list with 222.2 expected exceedance days.

Ok here is the conclusion from the report:

• Region 9 is planning to redesignate Pinal County to a nonattainment for PM10
• The area has been violating since 2002, so citizens are breathing unheathy air