WINONA, Minn. – Two southeast Minnesota legislators accused federal agents of showing up unannounced at feedlots this fall looking for evidence of bad practices contributing to groundwater contamination. Information gathered by surprise visits has been used by the Environmental Protection Administration to order a state crackdown on groundwater poisoning. Senator Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, and State Representative Steve Jacob, R-Elba, said the surprise inspections were at only a handful of farms. Further, they said, the inspections disrupted busy fall harvesting. Both Drazkowski and Jacob are among the most strident opponents of government regulation in principle. About the EPA action, they said in a joint statement: “With its decision to force the state to develop a long-term solution to reduce nitrate concentrations, we fear the target will be focused solely on animal agriculture, specifically dairy farms. Despite the proven track record of farmers being good stewards of the land, it appears more regulations are coming and surprise inspections are part of that.” They didn’t challenge the accuracy of data from the EPA check-ups.
Earlier: Farm lobbyist: Feds have cart ahead of horse
Earlier: Feds get serious, order Minnesota to fix tainted water
Finstad displeased
Congressman Brad Finstad, a Republican from southern Minnesota, joined right-wing objections to an EPA order to Minnesota state agencies to correct agricultural contamination of groundwater. “It is completely unacceptable that EPA is targeting Minnesota family farmers at the behest of environmental extremists,” he said. Finstad is a New Ulm farmer. Before being elected to Congress in 2022, he was the Trump-appointed liaison in Minnesota on farm issues.