Env. groups concerned by appointment of Wyant

The “business model” approach to government unveiled by Governor-elect Rick Snyder yesterday puts former Dept. of Agriculture director Dan Wyant — an opponent regulating the negative environmental effects of large farms — in charge of the Dept. of Environmental Quality.

Wyant was appointed director of the Dept. of Agriculture by Governor John Engler in 1996 and kept his post under the Granholm administration until 2005. In addition to his many years in government service his background includes work with Lowes International, Ralston Purina and as a pig farmer. Like Sndyer, Wyant is a member of The Nature Conservancy’s Michigan Board of Trustees.

In a June 15, 2005 interview with the Michigan Farm News Wyant called his time in the Engler administration “the golden years for agriculture,” and he said that his work to oppose permit requirements for factory farms known as CAFOs or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations was his “lasting legacy.”

“A lot of the government regulation is burdensome and unnecessary,” he said, “and is an erosion of what I thought was appropriate policy that focused on proactive, voluntary methods that were good.”

Though farmers have praised Wyant as an efficient leader and a good listener, environmental groups are expressing concern that he may not have the background or inclination to enforce state environmental regulations.

“[Wyant’s] challenge in this new position will be separating his new priorities of environmental protection and enforcement from his agricultural background,” said Lisa Wozniak, executive director of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters, “Agriculture is a vital industry in Michigan, but it’s also the primary cause of degradation to our Great Lakes, from excess algae in our waters to slime on our beaches.”

“[Snyder’s] action in naming someone with no experience in regulating polluters or enforcing anti-pollution laws leads us to doubt the governor-elect’s own commitment to protecting Michigan’s lakes, rivers and streams,” said Cyndi Roper of Michigan Clean Water Action.

Anne Woiwode, director of the Michigan Chapter of the Sierra Club, said that Wyant was a
major player in Governor Engler’s strategy to remove all environmental, land use and public health policy protections from factory farms in the 1990’s.

“The impact of the Engler Administration’s refusal to regulate water and air pollution from CAFOs was largely responsible for the extraordinary difficulty the state of Michigan has even today with forcing the clean up of badly polluting CAFOs, including the Vreba Hoff Dairy CAFOs in Hillsdale and Lenawee County.”

The DNRE is in the midst of suing Vreba Hoff Dairy for violating its water discharge permit hundreds of times in 2008 and 2009 by spraying inadequately treated animal waste at multiple locations.

Snyder also announced yesterday that he will re-split the Depts. of Natural Resources and Environment which were combined by Governor Granholm this year. He also said that the Dept. of Agriculture will be expanded to focus on rural development. Rather than report to him directly, as part of a plan to “streamline” government the directors of the DNR and Agriculture will report to Wyant who in addition to serving as director of the DEQ will function as Snyder’s “group executive for Quality of Life.”

Snyder named Keith Creagh, currently the director of industry affairs at Neogen Corporation and former deputy director of the Dept. of Agriculture, as director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and longtime DNR staffer Rodney Stokes as director of the Department of Natural Resources.

Snyder’s announcement of the new government structure and Wyant’s new role coincided with the opening day of the Michigan Farm Bureau’s annual 4 day meeting.

According to the Farm Bureau, Snyder and new Agriculture Director Keith Creagh visited their event in Grand Rapids yesterday afternoon and were warmly received by a crowd of 850 farmers.

MFB President Wayne H. Wood praised Snyder’s move to expand the Dept. of Agriculture and complimented Snyder on his appointments for the new Quality of Life section.

Late last night the farmers organization issued a release praising Wyant for a lesser known aspect of his work as agriculture director.

“Dan Wyant was instrumental in helping to launch the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program and taking the revolutionary approach of helping farmers to identify and minimize pollution risks and comply with state and federal environmental regulations before rather than after problems potentially occur,” said Wood.

But such praise from those who would profit by a lack of adequate environmental regulation is precisely what scares environmental leaders. Clean Water Action’s Roper says she is “concerned that Wyant’s appoint will result in taking us back to the bad old days before Michigan began making significant progress in enforcing the Clean Water Act and keeping our rivers and watersheds protected from raw, untreated sewage from industrial farms.”