TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas attorney general is opposing efforts by environmental groups that want new regulations on farm runoff that flows into the Gulf of Mexico.
Attorney General Derek Schmidt said Monday he’s seeking to intervene in opposition to a lawsuit filed in federal court in Louisiana earlier this year. The lawsuit aims to force the Environmental Protection Agency to impose new regulations on runoff that flows into the Gulf from farms, ranches and sewage systems in Kansas and other states in the Mississippi River basin.
The lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club and other environmental groups says the runoff hurts the Gulf’s commercial and recreational fishing industry.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports that Schmidt says he wants to defend Kansas’ interests. Other states and ag groups have also sought to intervene.