Hog farm proposal by West Branch man draws criticism
A West Branch man’s application for a nearly 2,500-head of hog confinement feeding operation along the Johnson and Cedar county lines has stirred up opposition from area farmers and landowners.
An application filed last month by Ray Slach details plans for a concentrated animal feeding operation that would add a 2,480 head pit swine finisher confinement building to one of his existing swine operations at 4315 Oasis Road S.E. If completed, the project would bring the CAFO’s entire capacity up to 4,880 head of swine.
Suzan Erem, a member of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and resident of rural West Branch, is one of several area residents opposed to the scale of Slach’s proposed facility.
“Agriculture at this scale, industrial agriculture, is not accountable to the local community politically, economically or morally,” she said. “This kind of agriculture has caused the disintegration of the rural community.”
The Johnson County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing 9 a.m. Thursday at the Johnson County Administration Building, 913 S. Dubuque St., to discuss and collect public input on the construction permit application.
Citing concerns with the pollution, lowered property taxes and environmental and economic impact often associated with factory farms, officials with CCI already are expressing their considerable distress over the potential CAFO.
“We’ve talked to probably two dozen folks already and most of those are planning on attending Thursday’s meeting,” CCI farm and environment organizer David Goodner said. “It’s the single biggest issue our members care about in the state.”
Slach could not be reached for comment Monday. According to a CCI news release, he owns six factory farms in Johnson and Cedar counties with more than 13,000 head of hog.
Area residents have until June 26 to submit comments on the CAFO application and the county must file a final recommendation with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources on the proposal’s master matrix, construction permit and manure management plan by the end of the month.
The master matrix is a process that a county can choose to participate in aimed at keeping proposed CAFOs in adherence with state laws through added input by local elected officials. A master matrix is required if the county is enrolled for the review and the proposed CAFO expansion or construction would exceed a capacity of 1,000 animal units — 2,500 head of swine, 1,000 head of beef cattle or 100,000 broiler chickens.
A master matrix, which includes 44 criteria to provide points for qualities such as setbacks from area residences, businesses, sensitive areas and waterways, also includes construction and manure management plans. An applicant needs to achieve at least 440 points — out of a total of 880 — in the master matrix to be approved by the DNR.
In his completion of the application, Slach recorded a master matrix score of 540. However, Johnson County staff already have taken 20 points off that score and CCI officials say another 100 points should be removed, which could bring Slach’s score down to 420 points.
Separation requirements, the manure management plan and construction and design documents also are weighed in the master matrix process, Iowa DNR senior engineer Paul Petitti said. Also to be factored into the master matrix is any pending enforcement or past legal action. One of Slach’s facilities had a manure spill in August 2001 that resulted in a roughly 1,900-fish kill and a January 2013 manure management inspection found that Slach was spreading manure on farm fields not listed on his manure management plan, according to DNR records.
While the county has the ability to recommend an approval or denial of Slach’s application, the ultimate decision falls with Petitti, who writes permits for the state.
“(The Board of Supervisors) do have some say; they certainly can fail a matrix if they think it deserves a failing score. Then it would come back to me and I would have to independently score that matrix,” Petitti said. “If I score it less, then his permit will be denied. If I score it more than 440 and he meets all of our other rules and requirements for a site, then he will get his permit.”
Petitti said he hasn’t issued a hog confinement operation permit in Johnson County in the past seven years, despite issuing 191 statewide last year and being on pace to issue about the same number this year.
Supervisor Rod Sullivan said this is the first time in his 10 years on the board that he has encountered such an application.
“I think the board is just going to have to weigh all those and come up with what we determine is our score,” Sullivan said of the master matrix, adding that any violations on Slach’s record will likely be considered. “It’s certainly something that’s influential to me.”
Reach Mitchell Schmidt at maschmidt@press-citizen.com or at 887-5402.
If you go
• What: Johnson County Board of Supervisors public hearing on an application for a nearly 2,500-head of hog confinement feeding operation along the Johnson and Cedar county lines.
• When: 9 a.m. Thursday.
• Where: Johnson County Administration Building, 913 S. Dubuque St.