June 10, 2026
Lansing, MI – On June 8, Judge Richard J. Garcia of the Ingham County Circuit Court (Mason) decided an appeal of Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) general permit for Michigan concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs. The decision follows more than 6 years of litigation initiated by the CAFOs which delayed implementation of a long overdue update to the water pollution permit that most CAFOs in the state must follow. While a new permit following the ruling would be an improvement over the status quo – which is that CAFOs are operating under an 11-year-old permit – it would not come close to stopping the CAFO pollution that has been impairing Michigan’s waters for years.
The decision wrongly accepted the CAFOs’ groundless argument that EGLE violated the CAFOs’ due process rights when Director Phil Roos added key additional protections to the permit last year. Consequently, the ruling improperly struck those protections from any final general permit EGLE might issue, guaranteeing that unnecessary, preventable pollution will continue.
At the same time, the Court’s decision correctly rejected the CAFOs’ challenge to certain essential, common-sense permit terms, including reduction of waste applications to fields saturated with phosphorus and a ban on transferring CAFO waste for land application in January and February. The decision also acknowledged key facts about CAFO pollution, including that:
According to the Environmental Law & Policy Center, Michigan’s 290 permitted large CAFOs produce 17 million pounds more waste per day than the state’s population of 10 million people. This untreated waste — contaminated with E. coli, phosphorus, nitrates, and more — threatens drinking water supplies and drives toxic algal blooms.
“Michigan’s citizens deserve clean water, and the CAFOs’ years-long, aggressive litigation strategy to avoid common-sense pollution reduction measures must finally come to an end,” said Katie Garvey, Senior Attorney at ELPC. “EGLE must now step up and do its job to protect the state’s waters from this harmful pollution.”
“While there are a few positives in Judge Garcia’s decision, overall it’s a step backwards. It’s a sad day for Michigan’s waters and the Great Lakes they flow into,” said Pam Taylor of Environmentally Concerned Citizens of South Central Michigan.
“Water pollution is not improving in Michigan,” said Megan Tinsley, Water Policy Director for the Michigan Environmental Council. “Waterbodies continue to fail to meet their designated uses, such as swimming, and more rivers and streams become impaired every year. Our waters inspired the motto ‘Pure Michigan’ and support a $13.9 billion outdoor recreation economy. EGLE must quickly implement the provisions in this long-overdue permit to prevent further degradation.”
“Agricultural pollution is fueling toxic algal blooms that threaten the Great Lakes,” said Angela Blatt, Senior Agriculture Policy Manager for the Alliance for the Great Lakes. “Now that the court has recognized CAFOs as major contributors of phosphorus pollution, policymakers in the region can no longer ignore the role these operations play in driving water quality issues. While the Alliance would like to see stronger requirements placed on CAFOs than those outlined in the ruling, it is important to remember that incremental change is still change.”
“This case has made clear that Michigan Farm Bureau will stop at nothing to avoid responsibility for factory farm water pollution,” said Tyler Lobdell, Senior Attorney at Food & Water Watch. “After industry’s endless manipulation of the legal system, we are largely left right where we started: without the regulations needed to protect Michigan waters. The fight for clean water must not end here.”
“While this decision is an important step, there is still more work to do to protect Michigan’s drinking water, Great Lakes, and communities from agricultural runoff,” said Lisa Wozniak, president and CEO of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters. “EGLE must move swiftly to implement the updated CAFO permit standards and ensure our waters receive the protections they deserve.”
The Intervenors that supported EGLE’s original 2020 CAFO permit and requested additional measures to further strengthen protections for clean water included: the Environmental Law & Policy Center, Michigan Environmental Council, Food & Water Watch, Flow Water Advocates, Alliance for the Great Lakes, Environmentally Concerned Citizens of South Central Michigan, Freshwater Future, and Michigan League of Conservation Voters.