Sierra Club cries ‘fowl’ on Lincoln

Environmental groups typically allied with Democrats are taking aim at centrist Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), accusing her of doing the bidding of Arkansas’s Tyson Foods by pushing a measure that would ease environmental lawsuits against operators of animal feedlots.

To the Sierra Club, Arkansas’s senior senator has become the face of a campaign by some lawmakers from farm states to exempt farming operations from Superfund toxic waste lawsuits. Lincoln wants language added to the pending farm bill, but environmental pressure groups are trying to stop her by spotlighting her connection to Tyson Foods, which is important to Arkansas’s economy and politics.

{mosads}An animated Sierra Club video clip shows lobbyists sporting “I love Blanche” buttons and Tyson stickers as they stand before piles of cash. A cartoon chicken named Fowlie Poopsalot characterizes Lincoln as an ally of corporate farms responsible for polluting rivers, streams and drinking water with massive amounts of animal waste.

“Fortunately, polluting factory farms have good friends in Congress, like Sen. Blanche Lincoln,” the cartoon chicken clucks.

Lincoln said she had yet to see the animated clip, but dismissed the attacks as unhelpful in trying to find a solution to problems facing agriculture. “I just think it’s unfortunate that they want to expend their energy that way, as opposed to looking to solve the problem,” Lincoln said Tuesday.

She said her efforts have less to do with Tyson Foods, the world’s largest processor and marketer of chicken, pork and beef, and more to do with the law’s impact on beef and dairy operators.

“Some of our biggest concerns are coming from our cattlemen,” she said. “Obviously there are lots of different agriculture operations that are concerned, but we’ve heard more from cattlemen and dairy, or as much at least as we’ve heard from the poultry industry.”

Supporters see Lincoln is a loyal advocate for farmers, protecting them against excessive lawsuits. She and her backers say the Superfund law was intended to target chemical waste sites like Love Canal and was never intended to be used against farmers, whom they argue have been responsible stewards of the land and should not be subject to costly litigation in an unrelated environmental law.

“She realizes her local communities depend on a robust agricultural economy,” said Mike Formica, of the National Pork Producers Council, who argues that if Lincoln’s bill does not become law a slew of lawsuits would target farming operations.

Jackie Cunningham, of the Poultry Community Council, an Oklahoma group with board members from Tyson, said if Lincoln’s bill does not become law livestock groups as a whole, and not just poultry, could be devastated.

Lincoln finds herself in environmentalists’ crosshairs just as debate over the farm bill heats up. The Agriculture Committee is expected to mark up the bill soon, and floor action is likely late this year. Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has asked supporters of Lincoln’s plan to avoid offering the measure until the legislation reaches the floor, thus avoiding a jurisdictional snag with the Environment and Public Works Committee, whose chairwoman, Democrat Barbara Boxer of California, is an outspoken opponent of the measure.

Arkansas is ground zero for debate about livestock and the environment. It has 2,110 concentrated animal feeding operations, the most in the nation, according to Ed Hopkins of the Sierra Club. Tyson has given Lincoln $16,500 through its political action committee since 1998, according to Federal Elections Commission filings.

Critics say Lincoln’s bill, which is supported by the junior Arkansas Democrat, Sen. Mark Pryor, is intended to protect Tyson from lawsuits.

Hopkins said Lincoln was targeted because she is the leading sponsor of the bill and has made it a priority. Her legislation has attracted 27 co-sponsors, of whom only four are Democrats.

In a lawsuit, Oklahoma’s alleges farms in northwest Arkansas are dumping more chicken waste — it is used as fertilizer on grazing land for cattle — than the land can absorb. Oklahoma charges that, as a result, phosphorous, zinc and arsenic runs off into Oklahoma’s watershed, and it wants the Arkansas defendants to pay to clean it up.

Oklahoma opposes Lincoln’s bill, according to Charlie Price, a spokesman in the Oklahoma attorney general’s office, and sees it as potentially endangering its suit. The state would argue that the law should have no impact on Oklahoma’s suit, but it could become an impediment.

Lincoln and her allies argue that exempting animal manure from Superfund will not prevent suits against polluting farms, which are already covered by other laws, such as the Clean Water Act.

Hopkins counters that these protections are insufficient because water resources trustees like the state of Oklahoma cannot sue for clean-up costs under the Clean Water Act.

Lincoln sought to add her bill to energy legislation this year but was blocked by a Senate hold, which sources said was placed by Boxer.

Boxer said Tuesday that she would try to keep it off the farm bill. “I’m hopeful that that won’t see the light of day in the committee, but again, it could,” she said.

An industry group called the Farmers for Clean Air and Water have enlisted the Livingston Group, paying $460,000 to lobby in favor of Lincoln’s legislation.

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), an enemy of environmental groups, said he was surprised that environmentalist were targeting Lincoln, and praised her for her effort.

Lincoln’s advocacy has won her admiration from farm groups lobbying hard for the provision. “She’s one of the small number of members in Congress who appreciates the gravity of the issue,” said Rebeckah Freeman Adcock, director of congressional relations for the Farm Bureau.