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Sunday, October 16, 2005

Environment - Stories today on CAFOs, health screenings

CAFOs. Updating this ILB report from 10/12/05 on the the approval of a hog farm in Vallonia by the "Jackson County Board of Zoning Appeals ... Tuesday night, that cleared the way for an 8,000-head confined hog operation in Redding Township," quoting a Seymour Tribune story, is this follow-up published yesterday, also in the Tribune. Both stories were written by Danya Cain. Some quotes:

A long legal journey lies ahead for an approved 8,000-hog confined feeding operation in Redding Township, says a Columbus attorney.

Pete King, who represents Jennings Water Inc., said Thursday at least two appeals will be made regarding the Tuesday decision by the Jackson County Board of Zoning Appeals to allow Talara Lykins, Elizabethtown, to build two 400-by-80-foot hog barns on a 10-acre tract of land northeast of Reddington.

King said Jennings Water Inc. is concerned with the voting procedure and will appeal how the decision to allow the operation was reached.

“We don’t believe the law allows a do-over or an instant replay,” he said. “We believe there are some very important issues that need to be reviewed,” he said.

Because the BZA has no appeals process, any appeal of a board decision means a civil lawsuit must be filed.* * *

The first step in an appeal concerning the issuance of Lykins’ Indiana Department of Environmental Management permit [that] is scheduled for Monday. The pretrial conference will take place before an administrative judge at IDEM’s offices.

Joe Miller, an attorney speaking for Lykins at the BZA meeting, said IDEM requirements for the operation were met or exceeded.

Health screenings. The Evansville Courier&Press has a story by Mark Wilson that reports:
More than 100 former miners who may have been exposed to toxic waste from Alcoa that was buried at the Squaw Creek mine in Warrick County have already participated in health screenings offered by the aluminum maker.

"It sounds like to me there is a lot of concern out there, which there should be," said Bil Musgrave, a former miner there and a member of United Mine Workers Local 1189.

Wastes disposed of at the former strip mine include chrome sludge and coal tar pitch. The waste includes hazardous chemicals such as chromium and cyanide, which may cause cancer and damage to the lungs, kidneys and central nervous system. * * *

Millions of gallons of industrial byproducts from Alcoa were legally disposed of in the mine between 1965 and 1979. The disposal was done with the consent of the Indiana Department of Health, which handled environmental issues prior to the creation of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

Until the mine was closed in 1990 it provided coal fuel for Alcoa's power plant. Alcoa jointly operated the mine with Peabody Coal Co.

Alcoa officials contend that the risk to the miners was minimal and that the company's own employees have been exposed to the chemicals - although not in the same ways - without any signs of significant health problems being reported or uncovered.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 16, 2005 10:07 AM
Posted to Environment