EPA drones spy on farmers in Nebraska and Iowa

Well, we all knew it was a matter of time before this started happening, and now it has. It was made known that the government would be using drones for their own purposes, and now its been confirmed.

The Environmental Protection Agency has been accused of violating the privacy of cattle farmers in Nebraska and Iowa by using drones to spy on them. Last week, Nebraska’s congressional delegation submitted a joint letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson expressing concerns about the surveillance and questioning its legality. The EPA responded that the use of drones is legal and cost-effective. The surveillance has so far covered Region 7 (Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri), but has focused on Nebraska and Iowa because of the high concentration of livestock feeding operations in a watershed that has a history of contamination.

The EPA’s Region 7 office defended its actions in response to questions raised by The Omaha World-Herald about the program’s legality. (SEE ALSO: Former EPA ‘crucify them’ administrator avoids testifying before House panel) The agency said that “courts, including the Supreme Court, have found similar types of flights to be legal (for example to take aerial photographs of a chemical manufacturing facility)” and that the EPA “would use such flights in appropriate instances to protect people and the environment from violations of the Clean Water Act”. So far, seven flights have taken place over Iowa, and nine over Nebraska.

This is some scary stuff folks. I suppose now the question is, "where do we go from here?" What is the next step? Is it legally possible to protect one's self against this sort of privacy infringement? I suppose at one time, the EPA was a good thing, but now it has festered into something more sinister and seems to be conducting more witch hunts against farmers and ranchers. Anyway, just thought I would share this.

news.yahoo.com...

reply to post by Veritas1


I honestly think, and I hope I'm wrong. This is in preparations for possible declaration of Martial Law by the current administration. Seeking out where the high concentrations of food sources are at all times.

I don't like it one bit.....

Des

Living right in the middle of ranch country, this one is right in my back yard. I aired a story about it for the radio station that I work for., because it's incredibly important. Just one more big nail in the coffin that's holding the constitution's remains. Star and Flag, my friend. Thanks for helping to spread the word.

I posted the following in another thread dealing with drones, but I think it helps to further show just how prevalent this type of activity is becoming.

***A few months ago my Father told me about two local men he knew and a recent fishing trip they had been on.
The story goes...

Two men go out looking for red snapper one day. The current limit on red snapper is two per person. These gentlement decided to ignore the law and instead caught approximately 15 each. They claim to have been fishing about 12 or so miles from shore.

When they finished and were pulling their boat out of the water, they were approached by an officer with the Federal Game and Wildlife commision holding a laptop. He greeted them and asked them how many fish they had on board. The men lied and said two fish each. At that time, the officer asked them to join him sitting at a nearby bench and proceeded to show them, on his laptop, overhead imagery of their boat, taken at numerous times during their outing. He then told them he knew EXACTLY how many fish they really had, and that he would be fining them $250 EACH for every fish over the allotment they had, in addition to a $1000 fine for disobeying the limit.

Needless to say, these two men were rather disturbed. While I don't agree with them overfishing, I can see why they would be upset. They claim they saw no aircraft or other vessels near them as they fished. The imagery provided was good enough to identify their vessel, themselves, and the exact number of fish they had.

It made me think long and hard, and at the end I had to conclude that the picture either came from a drone or a LEO satellite.... either way, it has taught me to always remember that what you do outside of your own house is probably being watched by someone, somewhere.***

1984, here we come!

reply to post by Veritas1


Wait til they get 10,000 plus predator style drones over the sky. The FAA itself said they expect as many as 30,000... I always find it funny, right now google recent articles of police officers holding the "drones" they will be using. They are tiny model airplanes it's such BS! The really drones they want to use flight at around 40,000 feet, higher or as high as the best commercial jetliners. They have cameras that can literally see blades of grass. The have all the best optics you'd expect, what wall?! We can see right through those.

If you were to initiate martial law with these you wouldn't need to round people up... You'd be watching every breath they take lest they act up.

reply to post by Dreine


Your story reminded me of this. A friend has been having some problems with their next door neighbor along the lines of code enforcement. I will not go into the details of the situation exactly, but my friend called the code enforcement office to make the complaint, while also chatting up the person on the other end of the phone.

Mind you, we are talking about code enforcement here, nothing high security. As they were chatting the other end said he is looking at the property right now. My friend got up and looked out the window because he thought code enforcement was outside looking at the property. Not seeing anyone, he said how are you looking at it, and the person replied by saying a satellite. As the code enforcement person was looking at the property in question, my friend became less interested in the problem next door and more about how the person was doing what he was doing. As they were wrapping up the phone call, my friend asked what all he can see and if the code enforcement could see him next door. The reply, yes, you are sitting in your front room sitting in a green chair and wearing a white/red shirt. He was 100% correct.

Now, if code enforcement has access to this type of technology, then we have some serious issues at hand.

reply to post by Veritas1


Leave the friggin' farmers alone!! They work hard and with sanctions of all different kinds. We need them. Let them do what they do best. They're afraid the farmers are gonna contaminate something? What about fracking? What about GMO's? What about "legal" disposal of toxic waste in the oceans? What a friggin' bunch of hypocrites and insignificvnts.

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has determined that using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to assess storm damage on distribution systems is a viable and potentially lifesaving option for utilities.

"We believe it can help cut down the restoration time and, in some cases, help the public effort by getting the power back faster," says Matthew Olearczyk, senior program manager at EPRI.

The application is specific for distribution-class circuitry that feed residential, commercial and industrial customers.

"When a storm hits over a larger area, we struggle to identify the damage itself, the severity of the damage and then prioritize our repair and restoration crews in a way that's fast," says Olearczyk.

www.renewgridmag.com...

reply to post by Destinyone


Like I said before. Drones will give us something to shoot at with out harming anyone.

reply to post by SUICIDEHK45


Well, if only that is what they were doing........

Originally posted by XLR8R
reply to post by Destinyone

 

Like I said before. Drones will give us something to shoot at with out harming anyone.

Yeah good luck wit that. Most of the drones they would be using fly at like 30,000 feet or 5.5 miles high. They are also way smaller than commercial jets...

You won't even see them, let alone shoot them down at 5.5 miles up

reply to post by KnawLick


I guess I'll have to give me BB gun a few extra pumps then

reply to post by KnawLick


No, but model rockets could.



Fire enough of them at the same time you could probably hit one. Or at least make them take evasive actions to avoid a collision.


ETA: Oh, put an explosive charge in it to detonate at altitude to create a small shock wave that could damage it if one were in the vicinity. Like a depth charge so to speak.

I wonder if I hooked up an RC copter with a camera and microphone and hovered it around DC just to check for corruption, bribery and other criminal actions for the good of the nation as a whole how this government would treat me?

reply to post by Skewed


I'm sure a high-output 'enhance' laser pointer might do a number on the imagery equipment as well.

Were I looking to do something against drone surveillance, that would be where I would start my research and material gathering.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


I'm game, want to find out?

why not just hack the signal controlling the drone and crash them all at once. I'm sure loosing a few hundred a day would make an impact.

I saw one of those drones this morning, about an hour ago. I heard a noise that sounded almost like a plane crashing (going down), and I looked outside. All of a sudden I see this drone, flying quite fast, about 100 feet off the ground, going west from my locale in North Dakota. That sound I will never mistake for another, and it will haunt me for the rest of my life. Trust me, they are quite noisy and won't be sneaking up on you, that close to the ground. Not sure just what kind this was, but I know it wasn't a recreational flyer, as there is no one within miles of me.

So, I guess your assumptions that they fly miles off the ground is wrong. I hope this one crashes into a tree or something... LOL. There are farms up here but not of the style seen in southwestern Minnesota, Iowa, or any of those other states. It's mostly large tracts of land that are unfit for anything but perhaps a few cattle.

If I can find a picture that matches what I saw this morning, I will post it.

Peace
SK