McOmber says farmers throughout the region have shared their challenges of trying to maintain the health and safety of their properties and neighboring land while using pesticides and herbicides.
“Right now we're learning about those issues and before the end of the year, we plan to be able to get back to folks on any changes that need to be made, and we think there will be some,” he said. “The last administration made it more difficult for folks to be able to do business.”
Mississippi’s commissioner of agriculture, Andy Gipson, joined McOmber on the farm.
“I'm looking forward to having these honest discussions about ways that we can reduce regulations and make things easier for our farmers to do what they need to do,” he said. “There are issues that have been perennial issues, like waters of the United States that have just been really uncertain for all these years. They're telling us we're going to have some answers by the end of this year. That's a welcome relief.”
Jerry Sumrall, who owns Sumrall Farms, says he appreciates the visit from McOmber.
“It's good to have people that are interested in you, to come out here and see what we're doing on the farm,” he said. “And if we do have problems, other than telling you to write a letter or something, you don't know whether it ever gets read by the right person.”
McOmber, the new EPA regional administrator, says region four has unique challenges.
“We've got more wetlands than any other region in the nation,” he said. “We've got a bigger population, I believe, than any of the other regions. So that brings a lot of challenges. But another big challenge is natural disasters. We get quite a few hurricanes in the southeast, and especially last year was a busy season for that. So we're still working with folks on recovery from last year's hurricanes.”
McOmber will also be visiting Mississippi’s Department of Health and Department of Environmental Quality.
