Lake Martin stakeholders have launched a letter writing campaign to stall action that they say could pose a threat to water quality, but Alabama Department of Environmental Management officials contend the proposed action could provide better oversight than current measures.

Last week, Lake Watch Lake Martin President Eric Reutebuch and Lake Martin Resource Association President John Thompson encouraged their organizations’ members to protest the approval of a statute amendment scheduled for Friday, Dec. 11, that would change inspection and permitting regulations for commercial animal feeding operations (CAFOs), commonly known as commercial chicken houses. The amendment would change inspection and permitting oversight from an annual program under the federal government to a five-year inspection requirement by ADEM at the state level.