15,500,000 Laying Hens at Stake

On April 22, 2002, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Director Christopher Jones proposed revocation of Buckeye Egg Farm's (BEF) 15 wastewater permits. The permits allow BEF to operate legally 125 facilities at four locations, which confine a total of 15,500,000 laying hens in battery cages. BEF also operates a hatchery and breeding barns.

This unprecedented action is in response to a culmination of significant, ongoing compliance problems at all BEF facilities. "For years, citizens and the environment have suffered as a result of the company's poor management and broken promises," Jones said.

The proposed action would have become final on May 23, 2002. However, on May 22, BEF filed an appeal, and it can continue to operate while the appeal is pending. A hearing is expected in July. For the sake of the hens, the environment, and the health of the people that live near the factories, BEF should be banned expeditiously from Ohio as it has been from Germany, where Buckeye Egg Farm's owner, Anton Pohlmann, is prohibited for life from operating such an establishment because of his great cruelty to hens. (See Winter 2001 AWI Quarterly and Fall 2001 AWI Quarterly.)