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Thursday, June 26, 2008

Environment - More on: Plan Commission rejects request to move Wednesday's meeting to a larger location

Updating this ILB entry from June 21, Pam Tharp reports on the meeting under the headline "Seething crowd in Union County sees CAFO ordinance OK'd." Some quotes:

LIBERTY, Ind. -- The Union County Area Plan Commission on Wednesday recommended an ordinance governing the locations of large livestock farms, but their decision didn't please the angry crowd gathered in the 4-H Building.

Most of the 80 people attending don't want the 2,000-cow megadairy proposed for Harrison Township and they wanted the plan commission to adopt stricter setbacks and other rules governing the operation of concentrated animal feeding operations, known as CAFOs.

A pickup truck outside the building bore the sign "Megadairy -- Megamess." * * *

The plan commission voted 6-1 to recommend the ordinance to the commissioners, after increasing the setback for churches to a half-mile from large livestock operations, so it matched the half-mile setback for public-use areas such as parks. * * *

The plan commission's recommendation means the ordinance now goes before the Union County Board of Commissioners, which has the final say. The commissioners may approve it, reject it and return it to the plan commission or amend it.

How soon the commissioners will consider the ordinance is uncertain, Commission President Allen Paddock said. Paddock was the only county commissioner in attendance Wednesday.

"It depends on how soon (area plan) gets it to us and whether it has to be advertised," Paddock said. "I expect we'll at least talk about it on Monday."

Resident Krista Carr asked for a larger setback for public-use areas such as Whitewater Memorial State Park and Brookville Lake. Another state reservoir was contaminated by a spill from a CAFO, which caused a "massive" problem, Carr said.

"A good percentage of the people who come here come for the parks. If we don't protect our lakes, our economy will be shot. A half-mile is just not enough," Carr said.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 26, 2008 10:51 AM
Posted to Environment