On May 22, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen signed LB574, a controversial act banning 12-week abortions and gender-altering procedures for minors, into law. As Pillen and his supporters celebrated their hard work towards “protecting [the] kids and saving babies” in Lincoln, less than 100 miles away, the people of rural Eastern Nebraska questioned whether their hog-farming governor was doing their children more harm than good.
Nebraskan politicians have uniquechallenge to their campaigns: the economy rests upon the shoulders of farmers with a deep mistrust of politicians. Because of this, Pillen’s most popular marketing strategy is to present himself as just another homegrown, small-town, Husker-loving farmer; one of the regular folks. Yes, Pillen is a farmer, but he is most certainly not one of the regular folks.
Pillen Family Farms, founded by the governor in 1993 and currently owned by his family, is the largest producer of pork in Nebraska, with over 100 hog farms across four states and one Canadian territory. As a hog farmer, Pillen controls how to operate his business to generate the most profit. As governor, Pillen has control of economic and agricultural regulations businesses must adhere to in order to receive government funding. Here lies the conflict of what is in the best interest of the state of Nebraska, and what’s in the best interest of Pillen Family Farms.
In early September, the Flatwater Free Press published the findings of their investigation into reports of abnormally high levels of nitrates, water-soluble ions that are incredibly dangerous in large quantities, at 16 wells around Pillen-affiliated farms in Eastern Nebraska.
Their research found that several nearby towns, such as Platte Center, had to dig new municipal wells when their water tested 12 parts per million, which is higher than the legal amount of 10 mg/L. Further tests on non-drinking wells at nearby Pillen Family Farms locations contained over 61.5 mg/L and 21.2 mg/L, amounts that could cause real harm if the water were to leak downstream to nearby towns.
According to a 2022 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), counties in Nebraska that had higher nitrate levels in the water were also more likely to have higher rates of pediatric cancers. In the course of their investigation, the Flatwater Free Press interviewed several families who felt their troubles with birth defects, childhood leukemia and colon cancer stemmed from their water.
When questioned about the elevated levels of nitrates in Platte Center’s water by the Nebraska Examiner, Pillen’s first move was to blame the test results on dramatic reporters from the coastlines with “other agendas. Pillen went on to cover all the bases just in case anyone actually read the report and saw that it originated at UNMC.
“Am I saying there’s no nitrates in our water? No. There were lots of mistakes made 60 years ago, when anhydrous ammonia was invented,” Pillen said. “Those are things that take time and get better over time. And if there are a few silly things going on, it’s easy to be able to identify that and [gradually] fix that.”
According to the Minnesota Department of Health, high levels of nitrate in water are typically due to “runoff or leakage from fertilized soil, wastewater, landfills, animal feedlots, septic systems or urban drainage.”
While it’s true fertilizer runoff is the main reason for elevated nitrate levels in water, the issue with Pillen’s statement is that mistakes with nitrate fertilizer didn’t end 60 years ago; farmers are still using these methods, and very little is being done to regulate it.
For example, the Resilient Soils and Water Quality Act, passed in 2022, set aside $1.25 million to hire a non-government “facilitator” to educate farmers on more sustainable fertilizing practices, hoping to avoid spending more money on replacing contaminated wells and installing filters in public sectors. As of now, the project sits almost abandoned, with none of the budget sent to fix the wells or hire educators.
While as of yet, there is no definitive link between the high levels of nitrates in Pillen Family wells and the health issues in the surrounding towns, this would not be the first time Pillen Family Farms crossed legal limitations. The Flatwater Free Press reported that several farms owned by the family “housed more hogs than permitted…failed to report wastewater discharge into a marsh and submitted groundwater test results and manure nutrient analyses late.”
While Governor Pillen might claim he works for the sake of Nebraska’s children, his close ties to the hog farming industry will never allow him to impose meaningful nitrate regulations to protect our kids- both those living and unborn.
