North Dakota
Current Campaigns
Being a Part of the Solution
Wind Power
North Dakota is often called the Saudi Arabia of wind, and for good reason! We have the largest potential for wind energy development in the United States. However, with the potential to generate 138,400 megawatts of power from the wind, we have 66.29 megawatts installed. http://www.awea.org/projects/northdakota.html
The wind farm we do have in Edgeley and Kulm, 41 megawatts, is owned by Florida Power and Light. Another potential wind farm would be built near Rugby- owned by PPM Energy, an Oregon company. This dispels several myths. First, the fact that we have companies from out of state tapping into our resources suggests we are falling behind. Secondly, wind power makes economic "sense", or these farms would not be built. Thirdly, there is enough transmission to get power from these wind farms to the grid. If our coal plants in the western part of the state can send their power to Central Minnesota and beyond, not to mention the possibility of two new coal plants in North Dakota, we can harness the wind.
Although we have seen success in past years, we are disappointed in the inaction of the ND Legislature this year in terms of wind power and renewable energy. There were several bills introduced that dealt with wind power or renewable energy during the legislative session, but none so far have passed. Instead the coal and oil industry have received a multitude of tax breaks and more from our legislature, a developed and well-off industry. More-->
Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO)
North Dakota has a strong and proud legacy of family farming. North Dakota Clean Water Action is fighting to protect that legacy. CAFO's are a major reason why we are losing family farms year after year. In addition, CAFO's make a huge impact on our environment.
Water quality is strongly affected by CAFO's, they confine enormous amounts of animal waste in relatively small areas. Even clay-lined lagoons may leak up to several thousand gallons per acre per day (Sierra Club), these lagoons have such an impact on water quality that Minnesota has banned them. Even state of the art facilities have accidents. In the late 1990's in Minnesota 2 CAFO's had spills of over 100,000 gallons of animal waste each. One because a switch malfunctioned, killing everything for 18 miles downstream. The waste itself is a problem, but in addition it is a major source of nitrogen, phosphorus, dangerous bacteria, and antibiotics. CAFO's are the largest source of total in-stream nitrogen, more so than any point source-in fact applying animal manure to the ground near wells doubles the likelihood that nitrate levels in the well will be unhealthy (EPA, 1998). Communities near factory farms rely on groundwater for their drinking water; excessive nitrates are linked to blue-baby syndrome, spontaneous abortions, and fish kills.
Bacteria found in the animal waste like fecal coliform, e-coli are proven to cause illness. Other small organisms are found in animal waste like Cryptosporidium-responsible for more than 100 deaths and 403,000 illnesses in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
CAFO's rely heavily on the sub therapeutic use of antibiotics to prevent disease in their livestock due to the unhygienic conditions, and also to fatten livestock faster. Livestock are fed eight times the amount of antibiotics that are given to humans every year, 25 million pounds (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2001). The sub therapeutic use of antibiotics has created many strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the treatment of these antibiotic-resistant infections may cost the U.S. up to $30 billion annually (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease). 6 out of the 17 classes of antibiotics available to humans are used to promote growth in livestock (New York Times, 1999). An example, more than one-third of the salmonella poisoning cases in 1997 were found to be resistant to five antibiotics. Another example, methicillin-resistant staph bacteria has increased from 2.4 to 29 percent in 16 years (Panlilio, 1992).
Victories
ND Clean Water Action works hard on behalf of citizens to ensure that environmental issues in this state are handled appropriately. With your help and support we have been able to accomplish much in the last 15 years. We look forward to working even harder in order to ensure a bright future for our children.
Recent Victories
Chemical Notification: Worked with the city of Fargo to implement chemical spray notification procedures when schools and parks are sprayed for weeds and insects. With the new procedures, citizens will be able to know when and where dangerous chemicals have been sprayed.
Tailwinds Wind Project: Worked with wind energy developers and advocates to help the Tailwinds project, which provides wind power for Ottertail Power Company customers, become a success.
ND Wind Energy Legislation: Worked with the legislature to draft wind energy bills that put ND on a level playing field with neighboring states. This legislation became law in 2001.
Chemical Spill Cleanup: Worked with the city of West Fargo to notify the public of a chemical spill near the city acquifer. This culminated in a cleanup action being implemented at the site.
North Dakota Wind Conferences: Worked with Senator Dorgan, Energy & Environmental Research Center and others to put together a wind conference for the people of North Dakota. We also set up wind informational booths at trade shows throughout the state to educate farmers about wind energy, and we organized a trade show to bring together landowners and wind energy developers.
ND Seed: Founding member of North Dakota SEED (Sustainable Energy for Economic Development) a grassroots coalition of groups and individuals dedicated to realizing ND's wind energy potential.
Arsenic: When the Bush Administration attempted to lower arsenic standards to levels set in the 1940's we worked to educate and activate people throughout the state to write or call and protest this action. With the help of many citizens in ND this rollback was stopped.
