The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should not have released to advocacy groups information on the location of permitted animal farms, known as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). However, the fight is still not over, according to a Politico report.
The court ruled that EPA had violated the Freedom of Information Act’s restriction on releasing personal information, but it sent back to the district court the question of whether to make permanent an injunction on the release of additional information that was requested by advocacy groups — as well as questions of whether the agency’s actions violated federal privacy laws and to what extent internal controls should have stopped the release of the information.
Meanwhile, environmental groups are bemoaning the ruling by the court. In a statement, Food and Water Watch attorney Tarah Heinzen said the decision “threatens to make it more difficult for citizens to access information about EPA’s activities to protect our waterways. We continue to believe that EPA acted fully within its authority in disclosing the farm information that gave rise to this industry lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act.” Food and Water Watch had backed EPA in the suit.
