US Poultry & Egg Association and the National Chicken Council have joined the American Farm Bureau Federation in a lawsuit challenging the EPA's authority to implement a programme based on flawed assumptions that EPA has failed to address that could also destroy agricultural jobs in the Chesapeake Bay region.

John Starkey, president of USPoultry and Mike Brown, president of NCC, commented: "The poultry industry is extremely concerned with the potential ramifications that could come from the Chesapeake Bay total maximum daily load (TMDL) recently implemented by the EPA.

"The poultry industry has a large presence in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. It provides thousands of jobs and contributes well over $1 billion each year to the region's economy. The viability of the industry in the watershed is essential if we hope to continue providing a safe, sustainable, wholesome, economical source of protein to the United States and the world."

The AFBF-led lawsuit takes aim at an EPA programme that will set limits on discharges to each of the individual watersheds within the Chesapeake Bay region.

Mr Starkey added: "The poultry industry recognises the importance of protecting the environment and has been committed to restoring the health of the bay for over 20 years. This fact was acknowledged by EPA in 2007 when it stated, 'From 1985 to 2005, EPA estimated loads from developed land sources increased up to 16 percent while loads from wastewater disposal and agriculture decreased'."

In spite of the poultry industry's well documented contribution to clean up the Chesapeake Bay, which has yet to be matched by other sources, EPA is looking for further reductions from agriculture, Mr Starkey noted.

He continued: "The implications of this demand will put pressure on thousands of family farms and put industry in the region in a position where it will be difficult to compete. This could result in the loss of thousands of jobs."

Mr Brown added: "EPA has announced this programme will be a model that will be implemented on a nationwide level. If so, the assumptions and data that went into developing this model deserves the highest level of scrutiny. Even though the poultry industry identified a number of flawed assumptions to EPA in March of 2010, they failed to address those issues prior to issuing the TMDL in December of 2010."