• News
  • Lake Facts
  • About

Lake Scientist

Megafarm watchdog protects Michigan freshwaters

0
  • by Dave Hochanadel
  • — April 20, 2010

For her efforts to patrol megafarms in southern Michigan, Lynn Henning received what’s considered the “Nobel Prize for environmental work” yesterday. Henning was awarded the 2010 Goldman Environmental Prize, an honor that is given annually to one person per continent.

Henning, a farmer herself, watched from her Clayton, Michigan home as megafarms began sprouting up around her area. These enormous farming operations possess roughly 20,000 cows and can output as much waste as a city of 200,000 people, according to the Detroit Free Press. The stench was putrid, but Henning was also shocked by the amount of untreated waste from these farms that worked its way into nearby surface waters.

Concerned about the discharges, Henning began taking water samples and photographs to document the water running off from these megafarms and passing the information on to state officials. The state has closed one factory farm and fined others for more than $400,000. The Free Press article says Henning has been threatened, sued, and received dead animals on her porch for her work.

The wastewater runoff from the farms includes antibiotics, blood from births, and cleaning agents. The waste, from the barns where the animals live, sits in lagoons until it is collected and spread over the fields. If there’s too much, it forms puddles and runs into streams. Heavy storms and leaking lagoons also contribute to the polluted runoff.

The creeks feed into Lake Erie, and pollution from these megafarms likely contribute to the phosphorus nutrient loading causing the lake’s toxic algae problems, along with the anoxic dead zone.

Much of the manure runoff has seeped into Bean and Durfee creeks, causing both of them to be listed on the state’s impaired water list.

Farmer turned activist fights manure-spreading faults [The Detroit Free Press] Video Credit: The Goldman Environmental Prize

henning

Share

You may also like...

  • One of the Midwest’s largest oil spills sparks fears for Lake Michigan
  • Asian carp might have second route to Great Lakes
  • lake urmia turns red Lake Urmia Turns Red
  • Lake Erie Ohio Sea Grant researcher hopes to model Lake Erie dead zone mystery

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Time limit is exhausted. Please reload CAPTCHA.

FishSens SondeCAM HD
  • Recent Posts

    • Foggy lake near Sogndal, NorwayResearch Brief: Synchrony in Phosphorous Concentrations Linked to Winter and Summer ConditionsMarch 31, 2023
    • Onset HOBO RX3000 Remote Soil Monitoring StationMarch 27, 2023
    • Lake Malawi: A Treasure to ProtectMarch 20, 2023
    • Microbes and Human Health: Aquatic Microbial Communities May Hold Clues about How Deadly Pathogens SpreadMarch 13, 2023
    • Research Brief: Causes and Consequences of Oxygen VariabilityMarch 10, 2023
  • Popular Tags

    Great Lakes research pollution Lake Erie Product Spotlight invasive species research summary Algae runoff international Lake Michigan Ohio EPA nutrient-loading dissolved oxygen temperature eutrophication toxic waters USGS climate change ice phosphorus Asian Carp Michigan list

©2023 Fondriest Environmental Inc. | Questions? Call 888.426.2151 or email customercare@fondriest.com