alum

I recently attended a focus group session. It turns out it was about some waterways in eastern oklahoma nearby. They have been affected by nearby run off from poultry farms in Arkansas resulting in low oxygen and algae problems. So now the state is thinking of spreading large amounts of alum in the water with boats to try and counter act the nitrogen . ackk.......if the spreading of poultry litter stops expert agree that the water ways will eventually return to their previous health through natural pathways yet they wish to spread Alum! The exact form of alum ?aluminum sulfate? was not revealed to us but I question  the safety of spreading large quantities of anything in our water ways. I simply don't believe that they can foresee the consequences actions such as these.

I know that common sense doesn't exactly prevail in either business or farming, but wouldn't it be cheaper for the taxpayer (heaven forbid!) to have the government simply insist that the farmers clean up their own mess? 

Why should they be making a profit at the expense of the environment AND the taxpayers?

It's like irradiating food... why can't we just have CLEAN FOOD, instead of zapping manure-caked meat to kill the bacteria on the still-manure-caked meat?

Has logic died off altogether?

Sue

One of the problems is that the river system is in oklahoma. Most of the chicken farms that are the culprit are in Arkansas.  I will leave the name un mentioned but it is one of the biggest poultry operations in the us. That presents a difficulty in that OK has no jurisdiction in AR. Oklahoma has been suing Arkansas to try and make them clean it up (or that is the short of the matter). It has been a nasty tussle here for a while. 

http://www.oklahomascenicrivers.net/archives.asp