Yet another reason to rein in this rogue agency:
The Environmental Protection Agency reportedly has been using drones to spy on cattle ranchers in Iowa and Nebraska. Nebraska’s congressional delegation recently submitted a joint letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson expressing concerns about the surveillance, to which the EPA replied that its use of the drones is well within the legal boundaries, as well as “cost-effective.”
The EPA’s surveillance has covered Region 7, comprised of Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri, though it has focused primarily on Nebraska and Iowa, because of the high concentration in those two states of livestock feeding operations in watersheds that have histories of contamination.
The drones have maintained an altitude of 1,200 to 1,500 feet. While the EPA alerts state environmental agencies when it is deploying its drones in their skies, it does not notify livestock farmers. Thus far, seven flights have taken place over Iowa, and nine over Nebraska.
Nebraska’s congressional delegation — Republican Reps. Adrian Smith, Jeff Fortenberry, and Lee Terry, and GOP Sen. Mike Johanns (above photo, right of drone), as well as Democrat Sen. Ben Nelson (above photo, left of drone) — raised their objections in their letter to the EPA:
Farmers and ranchers in Nebraska pride themselves in the stewardship of our state’s natural resources. As you might imagine, this practice [drone surveillance] has resulted in privacy concerns among our constituents and raises several questions.
According to Rep. Adrian Smith, who co-chairs the Modern Agriculture Caucus and the Congressional Rural Caucus, much of the surveillance takes place around homes, so “landowners deserve legitimate justification given the sensitivity of the information gathered by flyovers.”
“Nebraskans are rightfully skeptical of an agency which continues to unilaterally insert itself into the affairs of rural America,” Smith added.
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This also means the EPA does not tust it’s local Red State staff to report the truth to EPA headquarters.
Shut. Them. Down.
There is nothing an aerial drone can do that an environmental engineer on the ground can’t do better. In order to make proper use of an aerial drone in this application, an environmental engineer would likely have to be the one setting up the overflight protocol, and reviewing the data observed, but even that would likely be more cumbersome and unproductive than a straight up site inspection on the ground.
My suggestion to the EPA is to stop looking for fancy gadgets and get out in the field and do your job. Meet the people, check out their operation, and stop looking for shortcuts.
Oh, and people have a right not to be spied on by joystick technicians and bureaucrats who haven’t a clue about environmental engineering.
Amen Brother. These folks resemble Mr Thompson and Wesley Mouch more and more every day.
The state administers the permit programs for those facilities, and the feds have zero role in that administration. If the feds have an issue here, it is with the state, not an individual facility.
I don’t want the feds setting up a speed trap in front of my house, either. We got that covered already, you government slugs. You can get back to your internet porn.
You are showing your knowledge now. Too Much Logic here. You are not a feeling person here. This is all for the best of all of the people don’t you know…. (NOT!)
Any relation to John Galt ???
Any relation to John galt??
OOOPS
You morons! This is a completely false story! The EPA does not own or lease drones, they DO use contract pilots to do flyovers and have done so since the arly 70′s. Just another example of conservative anti government hate mongers stirring up the Sheople in this country. I cant belelive we have become a nation of such morons.