AR-News: FW: Sioux City Journal: Supervisors decide not to contest permit for large dairy farm

[jim robertson]

>
>http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2004/03/17/news/local/a7982d365
>3924d8186256e5a001e4fd2.txt
>Wednesday, March 17, 2004
>Supervisors decide not to contest permit for large dairy farm
>By Nick Hytrek, Journal staff writer
>Woodbury County will not contest a state permit for a 4,500-head dairy
>farm near Salix, clearing the way for the farm to begin construction and
>production late this year.
>
>"I think we need some concrete reasons to appeal it. At this point in
>time, I don't see any," Woodbury County Board of Supervisors member
>George Boykin said.
>
>The board took no action on the matter Tuesday, leaving in place the
>favorable recommendation it gave MPM Farms' permit application in
>February. Supervisor Doug Walish said concerns raised by the farm's
>opponents deserved a closer look, but his motion to appeal the permit
>and request a hearing before the state's Environmental Protection
>Commission died for lack of a second.
>"I want to make sure the county residents are fully protected," Walish
>said.
>
>The Iowa Department of Natural Resources granted Wayne, Neb.,-based MPM
>a draft permit earlier this month. The county had until this Friday to
>request an EPC hearing.
>
>The board heard testimony, for and against the farm, from 17 people in a
>meeting that had to be moved from the board room to the Woodbury County
>Courthouse basement to accommodate the large turnout.
>
>Opponents said they were concerned that manure from the farm would
>pollute nearby wetlands and ground water. They also were opposed to the
>odor the farm will create and the potential for mosquitoes to reproduce
>in the manure lagoons.
>
>"This is a flood plain. Woodbury County has little experience in the
>permitting of (animal) confinements. Let's not rush into it because
>we're new at it," said Dr. Jim Redmond, the conservation chairman of the
>Northwest Iowa Sierra Club.
>
>Mike Stueland, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator from Bronson, said
>manure from the farm will be spread too close to wetlands in the area.
>Dairy operators also have not been up front about odor, he said.
>
>"Nobody's said if it's going to stink or not," he said. "It's going to
>affect people's quality of life who have lived there all their lives."
>
>Others who live near the planned site disagreed.
>
>"I'm for this," said Ed Sands, who lives in rural Sergeant Bluff north
>of the site. "I'm going to live next to it. If there is an odor, I don't
>think it's going to affect the quality of my life."
>
>The $6 million to $8 million farm will provide an economic boost to the
>county, said Beth McGrath of Lawton.
>
>"We are an agricultural area and we need agriculture in this area," she
>said. "The DNR has already agreed that it met all the requirements."
>
>MPM general partner Lance Mouw of Tulare, Calif., said he and his
>partners do not intend to cause problems.
>
>"We will do our best to take care of the environment and be a plus to
>the community," said Mouw, whose father moved to California from Hull,
>Iowa.
>
>Mouw said construction would begin as soon as possible at the site near
>the intersection of 270th Street and Dallas Avenue. Milk production
>could begin by Nov. 1.
>
>The dairy will consist of three earthen manure storage basins, six
>concrete manure reception pits, six confinement barns, one milking
>parlor, one forage pad, two hay barns and other buildings.
>
>Nick Hytrek can be reached at 712-293-4226 or
>nickhytrek at siouxcityjournal.com
>
>

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