Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Idaho offers grants to improve confined animal operations

Large cattle raising facility with rows of calf pens.
Aaron - stock.adobe.com
/
492458804
Large cattle raising facility with rows of calf pens.

Mary Anne Nelson is the surface and wastewater division administrator for the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.

She said the state's grant program seeks to mitigate the potential environment harm CAFOs can cause.

"We are concerned about anything that comes off that production facility," said Nelson, "that's going to contaminate nearby surface water or groundwater, that could potentially then move into nearby surface waters."

Excessive nutrient runoff from the animal feeding operations are also a concern.

The Idaho DEQ is accepting proposals for grants until August 30. The grant program has funded 35 projects in the past two years, including $5 million to 14 applicants in 2023.

This year, DEQ has $2 million to support the selected proposals.

Nelson said the DEQ is looking for ways these projects can managing animal waste.

"We are looking to do any kind of project," said Nelson, "that would help improve the way in which that manure management process is done."

Nelson said her agency also is considering the ancillary benefits in applications as well.

"So if they're proposing to do something that reduces odor coming off their lagoon," said Nelson, "we would consider that an air quality benefit as well as a manure management benefit."

Tags
Sheri's career in radio began at 7 years old in Los Angeles, California with a secret little radio tucked under her bed that she'd fall asleep with, while listening to The Dr. Demento Radio Show. She went on to produce the first science radio show in Utah in 1999 and has been reporting local, national and international stories ever since. After a stint as news director at KZYX on northern California's Lost Coast, she landed back at UPR in 2021.