EPA gave out personal data on 80,000 farmers to enviro groups

[tinydancer]

So American needlessly dying from cancer and Mesothelioma because US Senators are running interference for the killers is NOT YOUR ISSUE.

You are a partisan hack and a human piece of excrement.

And you aren't sticking to the topic in my OP. My thread is based on the abuse of the FOIA act by the EPA.

You want to discuss formaldehyde and other cancer causing agents, start your own thread in the Health forum.

No one is forcing you stay in this thread. Go start your own.

LOL - Translation: Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Let's just stick with my hyper-partisan attack shall we?

No. It's the new rules in politics. No trolling and no off topic posts aka trying to hijack a thread.

http://www.usmessageboard.com/polit...ill-be-removed-from-the-politics-section.html

 

[NYcarbineer]

Not much comment in this thread from all the conservatives who don't think there's a right of privacy in the Constitution.

 

[tinydancer]

Also, industrial farms are seriously polluting the soil and waterways. Why wouldn't the EPA be involved?

Of course the EPA should be involved. I've been involved heavily in the water conservation movement since Grassy Narrows.

Ducks Unlimited reclaiming marshes for waterfowl.

I was involved heavily in protesting intensive hog farming allowed on an aquifer in Southern Ontario.

To the point Bobby Kennedy Jr. was working with the movement. He has the Waterkeeper Alliance.

I'm still involved in it out here. Along with protesting the never ending boil water advisories for First Nations Reserves.

And protesting the spreading of human fecal matter on fields as fertilizer.

I've been at water conservation for decades.

This is not an issue of whether or not the EPA should be protecting water resources.

The issue that I am addressing was the giving out of so much personal information supposedly under FOIA and directly against the wishes of even the DHS.

The DHS felt strongly enough to warn the EPA about giving out personal information citing domestic security issues.

 

[nodoginnafight]

And you aren't sticking to the topic in my OP. My thread is based on the abuse of the FOIA act by the EPA.

You want to discuss formaldehyde and other cancer causing agents, start your own thread in the Health forum.

No one is forcing you stay in this thread. Go start your own.

LOL - Translation: Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Let's just stick with my hyper-partisan attack shall we?

No. It's the new rules in politics. No trolling and no off topic posts aka trying to hijack a thread.

http://www.usmessageboard.com/polit...ill-be-removed-from-the-politics-section.html

YOU'RE the one who brought Vitter and the EPA into the discussion. NOW you say you don't want to discuss Vitter and the EPA??????

Make up your mind.

 

[tinydancer]

LOL - Translation: Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Let's just stick with my hyper-partisan attack shall we?

No. It's the new rules in politics. No trolling and no off topic posts aka trying to hijack a thread.

http://www.usmessageboard.com/polit...ill-be-removed-from-the-politics-section.html

YOU'RE the one who brought Vitter and the EPA into the discussion. NOW you say you don't want to discuss Vitter and the EPA??????

Make up your mind.

Oh give me a break. He's one member of the committee who sent the EPA the letter.

By your logic we should be able to go tangent crazy.

Bring up the personal lives and votes for abortion and gun too by all these Senators that signed the letter.

Ah their names are on the letter....okey dokey let's talk about their wives their kids. That would stupid and just plain wrong.

The topic is the EPA and their release of personal information.

Get a grip.

Senators ask EPA for answers regarding the agency’s blatant disregard for personal privacy concerns of small businesses, farmers, and ranchers through the misapplication of FOIA

http://www.epw.senate.gov/public/in...ecord_id=d65c575b-c434-25dc-9032-d4a9f6e329de

 

[Mr. Peepers]

The issue that I am addressing was the giving out of so much personal information supposedly under FOIA and directly against the wishes of even the DHS.

It just seems like the info they gave out was pretty much already public info. I'm with you on water protection. I used to be a lab tech at a wastewater treatment plant. It was so interesting. I'm also a member of the Broad River Watershed Assn. in NE GA. Someone dumped blue dye in the river last year that killed many of the fish. I get so sick of the way businesses flat out rape this country for its resources, but if you ask them to give ANYTHING back to the communities they impact, you're called a "socialist".

Broad River Watershed Association

 

[MisterBeale]

This part, I like...

The groups wanted the information, they say, because such large-scale operations are a major source of water pollution and they want to hold the EPA accountable for enforcing the Clean Water Act.

The EPA is aggressively holding the oil and gas industries to the Clean Water Act. Why should Agriculture get a pass?

http://schoolfood.info/

 

[MisterBeale]

Also, industrial farms are seriously polluting the soil and waterways. Why wouldn't the EPA be involved?

 

[tinydancer]

The issue that I am addressing was the giving out of so much personal information supposedly under FOIA and directly against the wishes of even the DHS.

It just seems like the info they gave out was pretty much already public info. I'm with you on water protection. I used to be a lab tech at a wastewater treatment plant. It was so interesting. I'm also a member of the Broad River Watershed Assn. in NE GA. Someone dumped blue dye in the river last year that killed many of the fish. I get so sick of the way businesses flat out rape this country for its resources, but if you ask them to give ANYTHING back to the communities they impact, you're called a "socialist".

Broad River Watershed Association

Look, even DHS warned the EPA against doing this. I'm not arguing water conservation; as I said in my other post I've been in the water conservation fight for decades.

More years than probably half the posters on this board have been out of diapers.

BUT the biggie here is a misuse/ abuse of FOIA. Plain and simple. This is pretty startling that they ignored the DHS.

From the letter:

The comprehensive data released provides the precise locations of CAFOs, the animal type and number of head, as well as the personal contact information, including the names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of CAFO owners.

The Department of Homeland Security had previously informed EPA that the release of such information could constitute a domestic security risk.

EPA's disregard for the implications of the release of this information is alarming.

FOIA provides nine exemptions designed to protect the disclosure of certain information.

Exemption 4 shields the disclosure of information related to the proprietary interests of business, and exemption 6 safeguards the privacy interests of individuals.

In this instance, EPA's release of the geographical location and the animal specifications of CAFOs falls within the broad definition of business information and should have been withheld.

Moreover, EPA's release of the CAFO owners' personal contact information could result in serious and unacceptable risks for farmers, ranchers, and their families - a risk exemption 6 was designed to avoid.

In an attempt to calm the fears of the individuals affected, EPA has reported that the three environmental groups who currently have possession of this information have agreed not to disseminate the data.

This assurance is hollow.

As the Supreme Court of the United States confirmed in Favish, and as EPA is aware, "release to one is release to all."

Accordingly, EPA has no ability to ensure that this information will be kept private, and, moreover, private requestors cannot legally withhold the information.

Since the very purpose of FOIA is to provide information about the government for public dissemination, an agency cannot control what an individual or organization does with information procured through a FOIA request.

.: U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works :: Press Room :.

 

[Bfgrn]

This part, I like...

The groups wanted the information, they say, because such large-scale operations are a major source of water pollution and they want to hold the EPA accountable for enforcing the Clean Water Act.

The EPA is aggressively holding the oil and gas industries to the Clean Water Act. Why should Agriculture get a pass?

http://schoolfood.info/

Frank Lukas?

Frank D. Lucas (born January 6, 1960) is the U.S. Representative for Oklahoma's 3rd congressional district, serving since 2003, having previously represented the 6th district, from 1994 to 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party and chairs the House Committee on Agriculture. wiki

 

[tinydancer]

I don't want to start flagging in this thread.

I hate Monsanto. I have no use for formaldehyde, not even in vaccines.

But that isn't what this thread is about.

The thread is about the abuse of the FOIA by EPA.

Let's see how this goes. Can you stick to the topic posters?

 

[Bfgrn]

I don't want to start flagging in this thread.

I hate Monsanto. I have no use for formaldehyde, not even in vaccines.

But that isn't what this thread is about.

The thread is about the abuse of the FOIA by EPA.

Let's see how this goes. Can you stick to the topic posters?

Someone at the EPA screwed up. They admitted the error and did what was possible to correct it...

NOW WHAT? Should we form a posse? Find a hangin' tree?? Firing squad??? Disband the EPA????

There is nothing more to discuss, only whine...

proceed...

 

[MisterBeale]

The EPA uses it's power to abuse and destroy small farms and favor Monsanto's Industrial producing farms. This is a subjective inference due to the old axiom, power corrupts. If you don't know the names Linda Fisher and William D. Ruckleshaus, familiarize yourself with them. The power of Monsanto is endemic throughout the government. They are out to quash the little guy and protect their business model, even if it means destroying our food supply and our health.

The FOIA means nothing if it gets in the way of destroying the little guy. Law means nothing if it gets in the way of their goals. Fascism is defined as government and corporations working hand in glove, that is what we have here. Monsanto using our government as it's tool. Let us not kid ourselves.