Part I: 1. What is a CAFO and how is it different from traditional farming? It is a concentrated animal feeding operation.

Instead of letting farm animals free and graze, it forces the animals to be cooped up in concentrated warehouses. 2. What types of CAFOs are in Farmville? How many animals are housed in each CAFO? There chicken and pig CAFOs. They can range from 5000 to 80000. 3. Based upon what you currently know about CAFOs, what can you infer are some of the issues for each side of the CAFO controversy? What are some of the viewpoints that proponents and opponents may state for and against CAFOs? For proponents, there could be increase of revenue for the county as well as food. For opponents, there is lack of natural way of treatment towards the animals.

Part II: 1. What did you learn about CAFOs? I learned CAFOs produce large amounts of animal sewage and other pollutants1. 16000 human waste is equal to small CAFOs2. 2. What are or might be some of the negative concerns with CAFOs? Negative concerns include waste lagoons that flow downstream into rivers and streams. Another negative concern is the spread of disease in the small space. CAFOs give off gaseous air emissions to nearby areas from animal manure3. 3. During your review of the reference material, which references are biased and which are unbiased? How can you tell? I believe all sources are biased whether or not it is intentional. The Sierra Club is known for being environmentalists. The CDC tend to state the facts more bluntly but also include a majority of environmentalists in their work.

Part III: 1. What concerns and medical conditions have you heard the residents express? Conditions include asthma, diarrhea, heart attacks, and air stench so thick residents are not able to leave their homes.
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http://michigan.sierraclub.org/issues/greatlakes/articles/cafofacts.html http://michigan.sierraclub.org/issues/greatlakes/articles/cafofacts.html http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehs/docs/understanding_cafos_nalboh.pdf

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2. What do they believe is the source of their illnesses? They believe it is the nearby CAFOs. 3. Should you consider their experiences with the CAFO for your vote? Yes as they seem to suffering from the consequences of the CAFOs. 4. Using the facts you have learned from your independent research and the concerns you have heard from the residents, what is your current position concerning the proposed CAFO expansion? I would propose not to expand the CAFOs.

Part V: 1. What are some of the types of microorganisms identified in Hatties water samples? Bacteria such as E. coli and total coliform. 2. What are the levels of E. coli in water that the EPA consider safe for recreational use? What are the levels for drinking water? The level is 133 E.coli colonies/ 100 mL. For drinking water, there should not be any E. coli present in the water. 3. What are some of the bacteria levels detected in Hatties samples? She detected 1000000 E.coli colonies in cup of water. 4. What is the proposed plan the farmers are considering to help their cause against the CAFO expansion? They plan to contact Hattie for the research samples and present to the board meeting. 5. If you were one of the farmers, would you participate in the board meeting and/or help collect samples? I would want to participate in both due to extra knowledge that can help present the case of farmers against the CAFOs expansion.