Asthma attacks, bronchitis, diarrhea, headaches, nose bleeds, nausea, burning sinuses, watering eyes, hoarseness and loss of voice: all are symptoms reported by those who live near concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in Michigan.

Michigan's 219 industrial livestock operations are threatening the health and well-being of rural families and the many communities located downstream. Concern about the health complaints from rural residents has led state officials to investigate the public health problems posed by massive livestock operations. A task force formed by Dr. Dean Sienko, the acting Chief Medical Executive for the state, with representatives of the Departments of Community Health, Agriculture and Environmental Quality and two local health departments is expected to complete its review of public health concerns from CAFOs sometime this winter.

The health threat from CAFOs is no surprise to people familiar with these massive industrialized livestock operations. A Sierra Club investigative report, Michigan's Dirty Rural Secret, published in April 2005 concluded that all CAFOs are designed to pollute. Between inadequate regulations and insufficient funding, Michigan's pollution problems from CAFOs are enormous.

Dozens of CAFOs in Michigan have been cited for illegal discharges into lakes and streams, causing dangerously high levels of E. coli bacteria. Cryptosporidium, the pathogen responsible for sickening 400,000 people in Milwaukee and causing the death of 100 in 1993, has been found downstream of CAFOs in Lenawee County. Antibiotic- resistant pathogens are found in CAFO wastes because more than 70% of the antibiotics used in the United States are used in the fattening and treatment of livestock. Groundwater contamination with CAFO wastes in Walkerton, Ontario, in 2000 led to six deaths and 1,300 sickened individuals; but groundwater monitoring near CAFOs, even for drinking water sources, is not occurring in Michigan.

CAFOs are infamous for horrible odors, but a much larger concern is with air pollutants that affect health. CAFOs emit ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and particulate matter carrying pathogens. Emissions come from all aspects of the operation: buildings housing animals, waste storage structures, spraying of wastes onto fields and fields covered with wastes. For many neighbors, odor is a year-round problem, while others experience huge spikes when wastes are disposed of on the ground. In either case, severe health impacts can occur.

In mid-October, Sierra Club volunteers from throughout Michigan will travel to Lansing to urge legislators to strengthen Michigan's laws regulating pollution from CAFOs to reduce the threat to human health. Contact the Sierra Club at (517) 484-2372 or mackinac.chapter@sierraclub.org for more information.

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