"Federal inspections of cattle and hog feedlots, turkey houses, and other animal feeding operations dropped for a fourth consecutive year, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data. The number of fines and orders to change management practices for those same facilities fell for a fifth consecutive year.

The decline occurred even though EPA regulators in 2011 designated water pollution from concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, as a national enforcement priority. The priority list — including urban sewers and air emissions from chemical factories, refineries, power plants, and oil and gas development — targets serious and chronic violations of pollution laws in areas that are “particularly complex and challenging.”

In a report made public this week, the EPA also announced that it secured $US 13.7 billion in fines, penalties, and settlements from polluting companies during fiscal year 2016, including several in the oil and natural gas industry. In fiscal year 2015, the EPA secured about $US 7 billion in enforcement actions."

Brett Walton reports for Circle of Blue December 22, 2016. [2]