When Renville County dairy farmer James Kanne addressed a Minnesota Senate hearing on environmental review Jan. 29, he made it clear that size does matter when it comes to assessing the impact of an agricultural operation on the land and community. “If you have 50 cows in one spot, they have a small impact,” Kanne… Read more »
Posts Tagged: environmental review
First Test of 2013 MN Frac Sand Law is Successful
By Johanna Rupprecht, Land Stewardship Project The owner of a controversial Houston County silica sand mine was notified Monday by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) that he must stop mining and apply for a DNR Silica Sand Mining Trout Stream Setback Permit. The Erickson silica sand mine in Houston County’s Yucatan Township is… Read more »
Factory Farming’s 2 Least Favorite Words
A major reason factory farming hasn’t run completely roughshod over the Minnesota countryside can be summed up in two words: “local control.” That’s why corporate interests aren’t wasting any time this legislative session trying to make this critical tool go away. For example, the Senate Committee on Local Government and Elections was planning on taking… Read more »
The Environmental Review Express
In the Legislature’s rush to “streamline” environmental review with proposals like House File 1, there’s a lot of talk about how such a measure would benefit “constituents” around the state. But one key constituent seems to have been pushed aside by all the feel-good rhetoric about creating jobs: the farmers and other rural residents who… Read more »
Pro-Factory Farm Bills Killed
By the time the 2010 session of the Minnesota Legislature convened Monday, proposals that would have weakened environmental standards for factory farms and undermined environmental review on the local level were dead. As a result of work on the part of members of LSP and other organizations, lawmakers got the message that factory farms already… Read more »
Environmental Review’s Latest Threat
It’s as predictable as the spring thaw. The Minnesota Legislature is yet again trying to weaken environmental review of large developments such as factory farms. This time around, the excuse for making the ideas in Senate File 2761 and House File 3079 into law is “greater efficiency.” Watch out. Recommend on Facebook Share on google… Read more »