In a victory for the U.S. pork industry, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit based in San Francisco rejected a lawsuit from several activist groups who sought to impose sweeping changes to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Concentrated Anima Feeding Operation (CAFO) rules.
Last month, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) participated in oral arguments before the Ninth Circuit, successfully urging the court to reject the lawsuit. At that hearing, the Ninth Circuit expressed frustration and concerns with Food & Water Watch’s approach and candor. In its decision, the court made clear that EPA’s preferred approach to regulating livestock production to study water quality issues is the appropriate path for EPA and does not warrant throwing out decades of established law.
NPPC stated that the lawsuit sought to use the court to upend livestock production across the country. By attacking core notions of due process and fundamental civil rights, animals rights activists sought to put pork producers around the country out of business.
(From the National Association of Farm Broadcasters)