While almost all farmers and others years ago changed storage refrigeration equipment to technology that protects the Earth’s ozone layer, regulators now fear the chemicals in these newer systems are a global warming risk.
Emily Merk, the storage manager for an Othello, Washington-area onion warehouse, and the communications coordinator for the North American Potato Storage Organization (NAPSO), tells Dillon not only are the new rules strict, but they’ve been rolled out on a short timeline, posing huge challenges–and costs in the millions–for food and farming facilities, at a time when many farms are already barely surviving.