A permit change at one Missouri CAFO worries environmentalists as they seek stricter regulation

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources is in the process of renewing its master general permit for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations throughout the state. Environmental groups worry the new regulations won’t be stringent enough, pointing to a recent permit change at one facility.
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources is in the midst of taking input on new master general permits for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations — commonly called CAFOs.

It’s a process the department goes through every five years.

Yet while environmentalists and some farmers and rural advocates see it as an opportunity to restrict pollution from CAFOs, they say a recent permit change at a large hog operation in north central Missouri is worrying.