As factory farming continues to be a booming business in the U.S, the damage to the environment becomes more and more severe. Just one example of this can be found in how these farms manage the waste of their animals.

In 2005, 3 million gallons of liquid manure spilled into the Black River in upstate New York. First of all that killed about 225,000 fish and other aquatic life. Second of all- ew! An entire town had to stop getting their water from Black River while officials scrambled around assessing damage and adding up fees. Marks Dairy Farm, the manure culprit, had to pay over $2 million in fees after the earthen barrier containing all that hog waste wreaked havoc (excuse the pun.) Even worse, 10 years prior to that incident, 25 million gallons of hog waste spilled over 8 acres of land in North Carolina basically killing everything in its path, wetlands included.

rFactory farms pose a major threat to our drinking water

What happens when you find yourself knee-deep in hog crap, or worse—when a hurricane strikes (I’m thinking of Hurricane Floyd in North Carolina) whipping up all the waste so that it is literally falling from the sky? Well the EPA will help you get a little vengeance by fining the bajeezus out of the factory farms. But then what? You can’t necessarily rely on the government to proactively protect you because farm lobbyists hold a lot of clout in Washington. All too often, the EPA offers farms immunity from Clean Air Act regulations.

Case in point: The American Farm Bureau is currently pushing (and pushing hard) to kill congress’s climate action bills.

You should be wondering why your government isn’t doing more to protect your water from pollution caused by factory farms. More and more livestock get crowded onto fewer and fewer farms. And guess what? Animals poop. A lot. And their waste has to go somewhere. Because there is such a high concentration of animals there is almost no sustainable or healthy way to manage the manure. Instead the waste lays around in lagoons for months and months, all the while emitting dangerous gases like ammonia into the air, and it often seeps into ground water causing irreversible environmental harm. Ultimately, that leads to hog crap falling from the sky—a situation I think we’d all like to avoid.

You have a right to a clean environment and quality drinking water. Contact your local officials and demand to know what chemicals are in your water.

The Russians aren’t coming. Men in furry hats are not going to sneak into our sewer systems and pollute the water with dangerous chemicals. This may seem obvious now (assuming there aren’t any conspiracy theorists reading this) but in the 50s this was serious stuff. During the days of the communist witch hunt, many people feared a nefarious infiltration of water treatment plants causing increased fluoride levels and subsequent harmful health effects. In the decades between then and now the general consensus has been pro-fluoride. Most people didn’t have much beef with the chemical because the guys on top say it’s good for your teeth. In fact, water fluoridation was considered one of the greatest achievements in public health and we patted ourselves on the back for finding such a simple solution to Jolly Rancher-causing cavities. But that was all during the days before most toothpastes had the chemical built in and before we severely polluted our water with a zillion other skull and crossbones chemicals. Now that we live in a modern society that provides us with whole aisles full of fluoride-infused toothpastes and dentists who use enamel, people are asking themselves if we really need yet another chemical in our water.

I could go on and on about the pros and cons, but fluoride or no fluoride, what’s the real issue here? The grassroots activists that are fighting against the possible negative effects of this teeth-strengthening substance should be asking themselves, “Is the government properly protecting my health and my children’s well-being?” That is where those pitchfork wielding citizens intersect with so many other protesters around the country. Whether it is people in Pennsylvania struggling to get coal out of their water supply or residents of rural communities who drink factory farm runoff, we are all pushing the government to regulate the things we put into our bodies on a daily basis.

So what if all the people in this country who feel strongly enough about the quality of their water to hold a sign or go to a rally banned together for a common cause? If all those whispering disjointed voices merged it would create a voice too loud to ignore. Good thing there are groups like Clean Water Action who provide megaphones to those who are asking the powers that be to PROTECT OUR WATER. By joining national campaigns, we can more easily find ways to work on our participatory democracy skills and get on board with petitions like this one: Tell your Representative to restore the Clean Water Act.

Think your water quality isn't what it should be? Raise your voice!

Another way you can fortify your local mini-movement is to read the news. Stay informed. I sometimes set ‘Google alerts‘ which tell me every time there’s a new development in the subjects I’m interested in. Or be your own environmental watch dog. Does the factory farm runoff issue strike a chord with you? Then find out who’s doing something about it and exercise your networking muscles.

The point is, water quality– in whatever shape it might take– effects us all and we have a responsibility to ensure that our rights are protected by reliable regulation systems.