Farm Bureau, Pork Producers ask court to stop EPA from FOIA data releases
August 18, 2014 | 03:40 PM
The American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Pork Producers Council have asked the U.S. District Court for Minnesota to bar the Environmental Protection Agency from disclosing farmers’ and ranchers' personal information in response to requests under the Freedom of Information Act.
“The EPA surprised the farming and ranching community in early 2013 when it publicly released a massive database of personal information about tens of thousands of livestock and poultry farmers, ranchers and their families in 29 states,” Farm Bureau said in a news release.
“The information was distributed to three environmental groups that had filed requests under the Freedom of Information Act. The database included the names of farmers, ranchers and sometimes other family members, home addresses, GPS coordinates, telephone numbers and emails.”
EPA later said it should have redacted some of the data, but the request for summary judgment notes that there are other FOIA cases pending.
The case is filed against EPA, with Food & Water Watch listed as an intervenor.
▪ U.S. District Court – Minnesota — Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment
“The EPA surprised the farming and ranching community in early 2013 when it publicly released a massive database of personal information about tens of thousands of livestock and poultry farmers, ranchers and their families in 29 states,” Farm Bureau said in a news release.
“The information was distributed to three environmental groups that had filed requests under the Freedom of Information Act. The database included the names of farmers, ranchers and sometimes other family members, home addresses, GPS coordinates, telephone numbers and emails.”
EPA later said it should have redacted some of the data, but the request for summary judgment notes that there are other FOIA cases pending.
The case is filed against EPA, with Food & Water Watch listed as an intervenor.
▪ U.S. District Court – Minnesota — Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment
