[AT] EPA to require farmers be half as dusty

[Grant Brians]

I am saddened that a post like this one is on the list. Instead of just
noting the very real issues of compliance and commenting about those, there
is a derogatory reference to the administration as if this was a plot of
foreigners to destroy us with good health. As the article notes, every five
years the EPA is REQUIRED to re-examine these standards to verify if new
information requires their change.
     The article notes this is not an optional activity as the poster to our
list implied. I live, farm and work in an arid, dry and dusty area here in
California. We try not to do field work in the afternoons when the winds are
high at the main ranch. But this morning when I was at the high elevation
location, the wind was blowing 35mph and that is not only uncommon, but we
have times when the wind does not drop below 40mph for 3-5 days at a time.
The cattle on the rangeland near my fields were kicking up dust just
walking!
     We have the toughest dust regulations in the country here in
California, but even if no farmers are even in the fields, dust blows in
many locations when it is not the rainy season. One technology that is being
looked at to reduce dust is to oil dirt roads. Obviously energy intensive.
Another is to carry and spray water in the air behind Disc Harrows. But we
are already short of water much of the time.
     It is simply a fact that some places are windy and dusty at some times!
But, as a farmer who wants this earth to support us for as long as possible,
I have been advocating and planting hedgerows of trees and shrubs for years.
Also I have been advocating tree planting as a climate modifying device to
increase onshore rainfall and increase water supplies. This is what the
American Lung Association and other proponents of requiring lower dust
levels should be working for! Lets "modify" our modifications of nature to
make conditions nearer the ideal that they could be by using its own
mechanisms not just assuming the need to use expensive new technologies.
          Grant Brians
          Hollister,California vegetable farmer

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com]On Behalf Of Rob Wilson
Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2010 4:29 PM
To: 'Antique tractor email discussion group'
Subject: [AT] EPA to require farmers be half as dusty


Check this out from the communist administration.

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20100920/NEWS02/309200078/1003/BUSINE
SS/Farmers+fear+dust+rules+won+t+reflect+rural+life

sample quote

The EPA's scientific advisers told the agency this summer that the agency
could better protect public health by replacing the existing standard of 150
micrograms of coarse particles per cubic meter with a standard between 65
and 85 micrograms per cubic meter.
The agency is expected to release a final document next month spelling out
its options for revising the standards. The EPA plans to announce any
proposed changes in February, and will likely approve a final updated rule
by October 2011.


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