VOA标准英语2009年-Lax Enforcement, Rules On Farm Waste I

Agricultural runoff from fertilizers, chemicals and animal waste is responsible for about half the pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. The U.S. Enviromental Protection Agency is stepping up enforcement and working with the United States Department of Agriculture to help farmers cut pollution from run off.

Rosanne Skirble | Mt. Joy, Penn.; Snow Hill, Md. 30 November 2009

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Some farmers allow cows to pollute streams and erode² stream banks

Pennsylvania is among the nation's top agricultural states.  Luke Brubaker calls it the, "garden spot of the world" for the dairy business. Brubaker manages 700 dairy cows and 48,000 chickens.

Luke Brubaker's Pennsylvania dairy farm has grassy³ buffers⁴ between fields, fences along streams, rainwater roof coverings and no-till planting

He grows corn and soybeans to feed the animals.  And he needs clean, fresh water to keep his cows healthy. So he's put grass buffers between fields, installed fencing to keep cows out of streams and roofs over the barns to capture rainwater so it doesn't mix with animal waste. These best management practices prevent field erosion and filter pollutants⁵ before they seep⁶ into the groundwater.

"Green" dairy farmers turn cow manure⁷ into methane⁸ power

Dried solids from Brubaker's manure digester are sterilized⁹ and used as fertilizer and cow bedding

Brubaker has also installed a computer-driven digester, a high tech machine that takes methane from cow manure and converts it into electricity.  "We're making enough electricity on our farm to power 150 to 200 homes all the time," he says. And, he adds, "We're selling that as renewable energy back to the power company."  The dry solids separated in the process are sterilized and used as cow bedding in the barns.   "It's basically pathogen-free, which for bedding animals is as good as or better than shavings and saw dust" Brubaker says.

Poultry¹⁰ farmers face scrutiny¹¹ over waste disposal

Southeast from Brubaker's farm is the Delmarva Peninsula, a large coastal¹² land formation that's shared by three states, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.  Poultry is Delmarva's top industry generating 1.6 billion dollars a year, even more than tourism. A few large companies contract with nearly 2,000 growers to raise 600 million birds.  These farmers are responsible for 1.1 billion tons of chicken manure from their operations.

Virgil Shockley's chicken house is one of 5,600 on the Delmarva peninsula

It's here Virgil Shockley cycles 75,000 chickens through his four chicken houses each year.  Like Brubaker he uses the manure to fertilize¹ his corn and soybean crops, but has more than he needs.  He's required by the state to file a nutrient¹³ management to control the waste. "They can come on to the farm [and] take a look at what you're doing. So there is a check and balance, if you will, of what is actually going on out there," Shockley says.

An uneven¹⁴ patchwork¹⁵ of voluntary measures, state and federal incentive¹⁶ programs and laws

In 2008 the Environmental Protection Agency's Action Plan for the Chesapeake Bay called on agriculture to come up with two-thirds of the nutrient reductions needed to restore the Bay.  While Shockley employs best practices, from grass buffers and no-till planting to waste ponds, cleanup efforts differ widely across the watershed¹⁷. The result is an uneven patchwork of voluntary measures, state and federal incentive programs and laws. 

The good news, says Russell Brinsfield, director of the Agro-Ecology Center  on Maryland's eastern shore, is that pollution from agricultural is not getting any worse.  He says, "Without some federal oversight¹⁸, some federal teeth, I don't think that we're ever going to get the states to be serious about Bay cleanup."

Federal regulators get ready to back new rules with enforcement

The Environmental Protection Agency's Lisa Jackson is hopeful that with Obama's Presidential order the Chesapeake Bay can reverse the 25 year course of watershed decline.  She says the draft plan released in September is a good start. "We have increased use of our current regulatory authorities," Jackson says.

She is pushing for pollution limits for each state. "We want to see a plan that we can evaluate that shows how you are going to meet the diet that you have been put on." Jackson says the federal government is prepared to impose, "stiff penalties on states that don't stick to that diet and fail to achieve the nutrient reduction goal set for each state.  "If we don't think that you're doing the job, we do have the ability to stop you from issuing permits. We can take away federal funding. We can take our own enforcement actions," Jackson stresses.

Scientists at Maryland's Agro Ecology Center experiment with switch grass as an alternative bio-fuel to power their operation, hold nutrients¹⁹ in the soil and prevent erosion

EPA is working with the United States Department of Agriculture to give farmers technical and financial help to put their best practices to work.

In other words, Jackson says, "What we are saying is, please use this time because most assuredly we are also gearing up to put new regulations in place. We would love nothing more than to have the regulations come in place in a few years and really there would be nobody to regulate because people have seen this coming and have gotten the help they need"

In his executive order, President Obama called for, "bold, dramatic action," to save the Chesapeake Bay. EPA administrator²⁰ Lisa Jackson says, if the administration responds with less, the cleanup could be in jeopardy²¹.

 

1 fertilize   

v.使受精，施肥于，使肥沃

参考例句：

• Fertilizer is a substance put on land to fertilize it.肥料是施在地里使之肥沃的物质。
• Reading will fertilize his vocabulary.阅读会丰富他的词汇。

2 erode   

v.侵蚀，腐蚀，使...减少、减弱或消失

参考例句：

• Once exposed,soil is quickly eroded by wind and rain.一旦暴露在外，土壤很快就会被风雨侵蚀。
• Competition in the financial marketplace has eroded profits.金融市场的竞争降低了利润。

3 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

4 buffers   

起缓冲作用的人（或物）( buffer的名词复数 )； 缓冲器； 减震器； 愚蠢老头

参考例句：

• To allocate and schedule the use of buffers. 分配和计划缓冲器的使用。
• Number of times the stream has paused due to insufficient stream buffers. 由于流缓冲区不足导致流程暂停的次数。

5 pollutants   

污染物质（尤指工业废物）( pollutant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pollutants are constantly being released into the atmosphere. 污染物质正在不断地被排放到大气中去。
• The 1987 Amendments limit 301(g) discharges to a few well-studied nonconventional pollutants. 1987年的修正案把第301条（g）的普通排放限制施加在一些认真研究过的几种非常规污染物上。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

6 seep   

v.渗出，渗漏；n.渗漏，小泉，水（油）坑

参考例句：

• My anger began to seep away.我的怒火开始消下去了。
• If meteoric water does not evaporate or run overland,it may seep directly into the ground.如果雨水不从陆地蒸发和流走的话，就可能直接渗入地下。

7 manure   

n.粪，肥，肥粒；vt.施肥

参考例句：

• The farmers were distributing manure over the field.农民们正在田间施肥。
• The farmers used manure to keep up the fertility of their land.农夫们用粪保持其土质的肥沃。

8 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

9 sterilized   

v.消毒( sterilize的过去式和过去分词 )；使无菌；使失去生育能力；使绝育

参考例句：

• My wife was sterilized after the birth of her fourth child. 我妻子生完第4个孩子后做了绝育手术。 来自辞典例句
• All surgical instruments must be sterilized before use. 所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。 来自辞典例句

10 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

11 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

12 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

13 nutrient   

adj.营养的，滋养的；n.营养物，营养品

参考例句：

• Magnesium is the nutrient element in plant growth.镁是植物生长的营养要素。
• The roots transmit moisture and nutrient to the trunk and branches.根将水分和养料输送到干和枝。

14 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

15 patchwork   

n.混杂物；拼缝物

参考例句：

• That proposal is nothing else other than a patchwork.那个建议只是一个大杂烩而已。
• She patched new cloth to the old coat,so It'seemed mere patchwork. 她把新布初到那件旧上衣上，所以那件衣服看上去就象拼凑起来的东西。

16 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

17 watershed   

n.转折点，分水岭，分界线

参考例句：

• Our marriage was at a watershed.我们的婚姻到了一个转折关头。
• It forms the watershed between the two rivers.它成了两条河流的分水岭。

18 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

19 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

21 jeopardy   

n.危险；危难

参考例句：

• His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
• It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻，上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。