What follows is the detailed explanation for the February 18, 1999 Bluestem Network Action Alert.

You may have heard about the major changes happening in the Illinois pork production economy. A fundamental shift away from small family hog farms toward concentrated facilities poses a grave threat to Illinois' rivers, lakes, and streams. To understand why, consider the fact that a hog produces 2-3 times as much waste as a human, and many of these factories are confining thousands of hogs together. The end result is a waste stream equivalent to that of a small city, only without a sewage treatment plant. The waste is kept in storage areas, which have a history of breaking and unleashing millions of gallons of waste into rivers and streams, causing fish kills; and then spread on farm fields. However, spreading too much waste in a given area can cause large levels of polluted runoff when it rains.

What Improvements to the Law are needed? In 1995, the General Assembly passed the Livestock Facilities Management Act in an attempt to establish some regulations on hog factories. However, the legislation, which was supported by the hog industry, has proven to be entirely inadequate. The existing law does little to keep the factories out of areas where they are likely to pollute the water, does not limit the amount of manure that can be dumped on farm fields, does not provide local communities any input into siting decisions, and contains no meaningful penalties for failing to comply with the law.

The Sierra Club and family farm groups support the legislation passed last year by the Illinois House, known as the "Peoria six" bill, after the six central Illinois legislators who championed it. That legislation would protect rivers, lakes, and streams by identifying areas in Illinois where these facilities should not be allowed at all, such as in floodplains and above shallow aquifers, and limiting the amount of manure that can be dumped on farm fields. Unfortunately, the State Senate blocked this legislation, in favor of an industry-supported measure that would do little, if anything, to improve the situation.

Since then, in his campaign for Governor, Governor Ryan outlined a plan to give local communities input, and to have the state certify that a proposed hog operation was safely located and operated. The "Peoria six" bill and the Ryan plan together would provide very effective protections and participation for local communities.

For their part, legislators allied with the hog industry, in particular State Senator Todd Sieben (R-Geneseo), have introduced legislation that would either weaken our existing law or make little progress.

No matter where in the state you live, your legislators are an important voice in this debate. If you are from a city or suburb, your Representative or Senator's support for strong protections is crucial to overcoming opposition from corporate hog supporters. Specifically, we are hoping that your Representative and Senator will support efforts to:

1. Keep hog facilities out of areas where they are likely to pollute the water - flood plains and environmentally sensitive areas.

2. Give local communities a voice in siting decisions, and allow citizens to appeal siting decisions in court.

3. Don't allow hog industries to saturate farm fields with manure at unsustainable levels.

4. Support meaningful penalties for hog facilities that don't report spills into waterways.

5. Support the "Peoria six" bill and George Ryan's plan to meet these goals.

6. Oppose HB 288, and Senate Bill 71, which do not provide effective controls.

7. Tell their party leaders that they want these strong controls.

Call your Illinois State Representative and ask him or her to oppose HB 288. Call your Illinois State Senator, and ask him or her to oppose Senate Bill 71. Urge them both to support strong hog legislation which keeps hog factories out of areas where they will pollute the water and gives local communities a right to input when a hog factory is proposed. Finally, call Governor Ryan and urge him to crack down on hog pollution.