Investigating CAFOs with Geoprobe® Equipment and Direct Push Methods
What is a CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation)?: A predetermined number and type of animals are confined for at least 45 days during a 12-month period where no grass or other vegetation is available in the confinement area during the growing season. Specific CAFO numbers and types of animals are available at this link on the EPA website.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
divides CAFOs into large, medium, and small facilities based
on the number and types of animals that are maintained at
the facility. So what is done with all of the waste?
Manure is a source of nutrients, and is applied to cropland
as part of the rancher’s/farmer’s nutrient management
plan. Depending on the type of animals and the methods of housing, manure may be handled in either a dry or liquid
form. Liquid manure is either “treated” in an anaerobic
lagoon or stored for application to cropland in earthen,
concrete, or steel structures. CAFOs exposed to storm water
must construct runoff control structures designed to catch
and hold a specified volume until it, too, can be applied to
cropland. If waste control structures are not designed and managed properly, there is the potential that local groundwater
may be impacted. The contaminants that are most
likely to impact groundwater at a CAFO include nitrates,
phosphorous, ammonia, and chlorides. Several states have
developed, or are developing, regulations on groundwater
quality near CAFOs. Nebraska, however, is one of the very
few who are researching the issue so as to craft guidance for
investigating potential impact on groundwater from waste
control facilities located at CAFOs.
Surface water impacts from CAFO
discharges are regulated under the National
Pollution Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES) program.
So what is the connection between Geoprobe Systems® and CAFOs? Dave Miesbach, Groundwater Unit Supervisor for the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, Water Quality Division, requested a demonstration of Geoprobe® equipment earlier this year to find out if direct push tooling could be useful for investigating the subsurface at a CAFO facility.
[Read this complete article in the online Probing Times Newsletter. Click here to go to www.probingtimes.com ]