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Eastern Shore Activists Want Answers on State Air Monitoring of Industrial Animal Houses

Now that the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) has announced a study of ambient air quality near concentrated animal feeding operations on the Eastern Shore, environmental activists on the Shore are urging their members and neighbors to attend an informational meeting about the study on Thursday evening.

The $500,000 MDE Lower Eastern Shore Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Project, substantially funded by the Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc. and the Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment, will set up two monitoring stations on the Lower Shore, one upwind and one downwind of an existing industrial chicken house.

But some environmental groups are uneasy about the fact that the study will not analyze public health impacts, and that the data collected will belong to state and the industry group.

A public information session on the plan will take place Thursday from 7-9 p.m. in the Richard A. Henson Center Ballroom at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, 30690 University Blvd. South in Princess Anne.

“We need to be there to ask questions,” says an email action alert from the Assateague Coastal Trust. “How far from the exhaust fans will these monitors be located? Will these 2 monitors be near the same facility? Will it be the location with 3 houses, or the one with 5 houses, or the one with 15 houses? Will the monitoring results be compared with the times the exhaust fans are on versus off?

“Who will see the raw data and will it be analyzed for public health impacts to our communities? Where can we see it? Why did MDE partner with the poultry industry on this project instead of Maryland citizens on the Lower Shore?”

The email alert concludes: “our communities deserve a robust, independent analysis of the air coming directly out of factory farms on the Eastern Shore.”

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Eastern Shore Activists Want Answers on State Air Monitoring of Industrial Animal Houses