All Hands on the Poop Check: Learn How to Monitor Water for Animal Factory Pollution!

Lynn Henning takes a sample from a waterway near a CAFO.

One of the most important weapons in the fight against polluting animal factories or CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) is the evidence our volunteers gather in waterways near these facilities.

Concerned citizens have helped us collect vital data on the levels of pathogens and bacteria that end up in rivers and streams when manure and waste runs off from farm fields, leaks from storage lagoons or is intentionally dumped. They also check for dissolved oxygen levels, which are lowered by excess nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus that come from CAFOs and contribute to fish kills.

The Sierra Club is offering two free introductory webinars for folks interested in learning more about monitoring for animal factory water pollution.  They will take place Thursday, June 21, and Tuesday, June 26, from 7-8 pm.

Both webinars will be conducted by Goldman Environmental Prize Winner Lynn Henning and Scott Dye, Sierra Club Water Sentinels program director. They will give an overview of the types of pollution caused by CAFOs, how water monitoring is done and what we do with the data.

Participants will also have the opportunity to sign up for advanced training to become a volunteer water monitor of an animal factory in their area.  

To register for a webinar, email gail.philbin@sierraclub.org and specify the webinar date in the subject line. We'll send call-in details the week before the webinar.

Questions? Contact gail.philbin@sierraclub.org or lynn.henning@sierraclub.org.