Protesting Dutch farmers dump manure, garbage on roads

By MIKE CORDER
Associated Press

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch farmers are protesting government plans to reduce nitrogen emissions. The farmers dumped manure and garbage on highways Wednesday and set fires alongside roads, creating traffic chaos on some roads in the central and eastern Netherlands. Fire services rushed to clear the debris as traffic built up. The latest demonstrations are part of a summer of discontent. They came a day after a government-appointed mediator sent invitations to farmers’ organizations to discuss with the government ways of reducing nitrogen emissions. The farmers are angry at government targets for reining in emissions of nitrogen oxide and ammonia that they say threatens their agricultural way of life. A government spokesman later Wednesday said some cleanup workers had been threatened.