EPA Funds Anti-Ag Billboards

Leaders in Washington, D.C. have joined the agriculture community in reacting to EPA-funded billboards that say farmers pollute waterways.

Among billboards in the state of Washington is one that includes an image of cows standing in a stream. It is set over a larger, separate image of brown water. The accompanying words: “Unregulated agriculture is putting our waterways at risk.”

The “What's Upstream?” campaign also uses photos of dead fish.

The Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission and Swinomish Indian tribe commissioned the campaign using money from the EPA, although the precise amount is unclear.

EPA monitored the campaign’s development and implementation for more than four years, but withdrew its support April 5, the same day two U.S. senators called for an investigation. The EPA said it would take corrective actions, but the campaign continued.

U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, has asked the EPA to share the agency’s communications with the commission and tribe. He called the campaign troubling but added that he was more concerned about whether there was a “broader pattern of mismanagement of federal funds at EPA.”

He referred to previous government findings that EPA has engaged in covert propaganda nationally and has been lax in overseeing how grants are spent in Washington state.

Source: Capital Press S