Mount Vernon News

MOUNT VERNON — Tempers were kept under control as residents, farmers and officials met at the Mount Vernon Developmental Center on Thursday night for a meeting prompted by recent controversy about a planned chicken farm in Monroe Township. Attendees came to hear a presentation about concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) by lawyer John Sproat, and for a general public discussion of concerns. Though other chicken farms are currently being planned in the region, the distinct impression Thursday night was that the Monroe Township situation is likely to turn into a clash between town and country as Knox County’s farmland and residential areas come into conflict.

Meeting organizer Lauren McKenzie, a property owner adjacent to the proposed 75,000 chicken farm, opened the meeting by cautioning everyone to remain respectful of each other, an admonition she repeated later when tensions came to the surface toward the end of the nearly two-hour meeting.

Sproat, a veteran of lawsuits against the massive Ohio Farm Fresh Egg operation (formerly known as Buckeye Egg) in Croton, gave a slide presentation about research, legislation and legal matters involving CAFOs. He pointed out that the operation proposed by the McDonald family in Monroe Township was smaller than the legal definition of a CAFO. The legal limit for a dry-manure waste management system poultry CAFO is 125,000 birds, whereas the facility planned for the site at the intersection of Paige and Wooster roads would hold about 75,000 birds.

Much of Sproat’s presentation was geared toward the specific risks of CAFOs, and he presented extensive documentation of such hazards as flies, odors, antibiotic resistance from contaminated water, air and water pollution from pathogens found in waste. He cited research in Iowa which has led to the adaptation of exposure limits in that state for ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, both of which are found in high amounts in all animal waste, including poultry.

“The issue here is the staggering quantity of urine and manure that is produced,” Sproat said, citing a statistic that equated the waste output of 16 laying hens with the output of one human. He compared the waste risk of having a farm with 75,000 chickens to having the human population of the area suddenly increase by almost 5,000 people. Sproat said that manure used as fertilizer can be very beneficial as long as it is kept dry, as flies lay eggs in moist manure. McKenzie added that she was concerned that though the McDonald operation was described to her as a dry manure system, part of the storage of the waste would be open to the elements at one point in the process.

In closing, Sproat said that he would encourage water and air quality testing to be performed both now, to establish a baseline, and later, to determine if any problems are arising.

“Prove me wrong,” Sproat said, arguing that it wasn’t unreasonable to want proof the chicken farm wasn’t polluting the area once it was up and running.

Pike Township farmer Ken Ruprecht was the first to comment when the floor was opened for questions.

“I think you’re attacking agriculture here,” Ruprecht said, pointing out that he has run a large dairy operation for many years without any problems and without complaints from neighbors. He added that the pathogens Sproat cited as threats are common, even in household kitchens. Sproat cited an expanded list including less common pathogens, but did not dispute the basic point.

“If you are operating a model facility, you have nothing to fear,” Sproat said, but added that if he lived here, he would want proof.

Ruprecht countered that the cost of the monitoring which Sproat was suggesting was more than an average farmer could afford.

County Commissioner Allen Stockberger said that water testing is already done on Monroe Township’s Center Run because of the Kokosing River’s “Scenic River” status, thus covering water quality testing needs. Sproat said he would volunteer to provide free air quality testing equipment from Cerex Environmental Services, which his firm has utilized in past cases involving CAFOs.

A friend of a township resident who couldn’t be present asked on the resident’s behalf why no officials were aware of the incoming farm before its immanent ground breaking, which led to a discussion reiterating that there are no zoning or permitting restrictions for farming operations smaller in size than CAFOs. It was also reiterated that Jim McDonald, proprietor of the planned operation, had worked with Knox Soil and Water Conservation District to develop a waste management plan, something which he was not required by law to do.

The subject of potential property value decreases brought tensions to the surface. Sproat said that CAFOs can cause 50 to 90 percent decreases in the value of property, depending on how close it is to the operation, though he had no statistics about the impact of a smaller operation like this one. One township resident said that he was concerned that after 30 years of working, he was about to lose the value of his home. Sproat pointed out that while large CAFOs which have gone through the permitting process are immune from nuisance lawsuits, smaller operations are not, and that loss of property value legally falls within the definition of nuisance.

One person asked why McDonald didn’t just build the chicken operation on the other side of the road, closer to his own residence and further away from neighbors, something which prompted a round of applause from many residents.

When one of the farmers asked if McDonald didn’t have the right to pursue making a living, McKenzie countered, asking does one person have the right to adversely effect others around him? McKenzie pointed out that she grew up on a farm and has been involved in farming all her life.

“I am not against agriculture,” McKenzie said. “And I’m not against family farms; this is larger than a family farm.”

Farmer Don Hawk, a turkey farmer for many years, said that he felt that concerns and issues were being highly exaggerated.

“If it’s done right, you don’t even know it’s there,” Hawk said. He said that the situation will take care of itself, that if McDonald doesn’t do a good job, he’ll be out of the chicken business before long.

A Brown township resident, who declined to give her name, spoke about another concern as she was leaving the meeting. She said that even if all the potential pollution and nuisance problems are avoided with this operation, will it lead to a proliferation of chicken operations throughout Knox County? She said that though just a few operations didn’t compare in size to the operation in Croton or the recently announced massive egg farms near Marysville in Union County, if enough small farms popped up, the sum effect might be the same.