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CAFO-polluted streams We've seen CAFO brown water, white water, green water, black water in our streams.
Water monitoring of streams near CAFOs shows frequent spikes in E. coli bacteria, as high as 297,000/100 ml (297 times the level Michigan allows for partial body contact). The CAFOs in our area have illegally discharged manure, silage leachate (chopped feed, high in moisture, acidic, lowers Dissolved Oxygen in streams), milk and milkhouse wastes. These pollutants have contaminated stretches of three watersheds -- the Bean/Tiffin/Maumee watershed, which supplies drinking water for Archbold, OH, and serves as a recharge area for groundwater wells in Hudson and Morenci, MI, Bryan, OH, and other communties; the River Raisin watershed, which supplies drinking water for Adrian, Blissfield, and other Michigan communities; and the St. Joseph River watershed.
(left) Algal scum in South Medina Drain; (right) milky gray plume in Toad Creek at Mulberry Rd--site with E. coli count of 297,000/100ml, Nov. 11, 2002
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