Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 3/29/17


A federal district court in Minnesota has approved the dismissal and settlement of a lawsuit that agricultural groups filed to limit the amount of data that the Environmental Protection Agency can release on concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), according to court documents.

The National Pork Producers Council and American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) sued in 2013 after the EPA released extensive personal information on more than 100,000 CAFO operators in 29 states and was prepared to release the same on farmers in six other states. The groups argued that such information is exempted from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
A U.S. District judge in Minnesota had ruled the plaintiffs did not demonstrate standing on behalf of their members, but an appeals court in St. Louis reversed that decision last September.

EPA “abused its discretion in deciding that the information at issue was not exempt from mandatory disclosure under Exemption 6 [personal privacy interests] of FOIA,” ruled the appeals court, which sent the case back to the federal district court in Minnesota to decide whether to issue an injunction ordering EPA not to release the personal information.

“Farm families usually live on the farm and releasing this type of information was a clear violation of their personal privacy,” AFBF President Zippy Duvall said in a statement. “The information could easily be used to encourage harassment or even violence against farmers and ranchers.”

As part of the settlement finalized Monday, EPA agreed to only disclose a CAFO’s permit status, city, county and zip code.
The settlement stipulates that FOIA requesters that received the original sensitive information return it to EPA, destroy all copies of it and cease any further dissemination of it. Meanwhile, EPA is to conduct training on FOIA and personal information handling.

The stipulation does not constitute EPA’s admission of liability or fault. Each party will pay its own fees and costs.

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