Hot News

4.10.2007

By STEPHANIE JORDAN
Staff Writer

Two farms in Delaware were inspected last Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency, and two more Delaware farms are scheduled to be inspected tomorrow, according to Delaware Secretary of Agriculture Michael Scuse.
The first inspections took place at two Sussex County farms in March, and one farm was inspected in Caroline County, Md.
“We don’t have any idea of what they saw or what they think they saw that caused these farms to be chosen,” Scuse said.
He added that the farms were chosen for inspection based on “windshield inspections,” meaning that EPA officials drove by the farm and noticed something.
Scuse said it was upsetting that there was no warning given for the first two inspections in Delaware.
“We were aware they were coming to the state, but we didn’t know where they were going until they called the morning of,” he said.
Scuse sat down with the EPA at the end of March to compromise on a few issues.
The Delaware Nutrient Management Commission sent a letter to the EPA, asking for several considerations.
Scuse sat down with the agency on March 30 to discuss them.
The EPA will give 48 hours notice of the farms they want to inspect, and a list of what the inspectors want to see.
The agency also will practice biosecurity while on a farm and that at the very least, a preliminary report would be released within 30 days of the inspection, detailing what they found.
Both Scuse and Maryland’s Secretary of Agriculture Roger Richardson said department staffers will be at the farms that are receiving an inspection, to make sure that producers can answer all of EPA’s questions.
The Maryland Department of Agriculture does not have any direct contact with the EPA at this time, but rather works with the agency through a signed Memorandum of Understanding with the Maryland Department of Environment.
The MOU sets forth a plan on how to handle agricultural pollution.
“It has worked well for us,” said Doug Scott, MDA assistant secretary. He added that Maryland received a little more notice of the inspections than Delaware did because they found out the location the day before the inspection, and then the inspection had to be rescheduled.
Scott and Richardson said they were unaware of similar inspections in the past, and the inspections are typically complaint-driven.
Scuse said Delaware and Maryland, to his knowledge, are the only two states in the region that have received inspections thus far.
“We’re being told that this is a national initiative,” he said.
But speaking with his counterparts in New Jersey, Virginia and West Virginia, the random, unannounced inspections have not taken place in those states.
The Delaware congressional delegation — Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del.; Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del.; and Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del. — also are asking questions about the inspections, trying to ensure that the industry is treated fairly.
“We don’t think these inspections are necessary,” Scuse said. “Our program should be a model for the rest of the country to use. This is disruptive and harmful to the whole industry.”