NEW YORK — A federal appeals court yesterday agreed with environmentalists that new federal clean water rules were not protecting the nation's waters from the manure pollution of large farms, the Associated Press (AP) reported in Newsday.
The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said it agreed with environmentalists who claimed in lawsuits that the rules failed to provide meaningful review of plans developed by the farms to limit the pollution, the AP said.
According to the report, the court said the rules imposed in February 2003 by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were arbitrary and capricious and did "nothing to ensure" that each large farm was complying with requirements to control the pollution.
Its ruling requires the EPA to make changes so it can ensure compliance by the farms with the Clean Water Act, the report said.
The farms can generate millions of tons of manure each year, which carries potentially harmful pollutants — including pesticides, bacteria, viruses, trace elements of arsenic and compounds such as methane and ammonia — to water sources, the AP said.
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