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.