A proposed concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) in Hancock County could have consequences for Madison County.
In September, Shannon K. and Josh R. Lawyer of Swine Pro 1 LLC, filed for a CAFO permit through the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) in compliance with state regulations. The couple plan to construct two grow-to-finish hog buildings with a combined capacity of 8,000 animals on County Road 1100 North near Shirley.
Although the CAFO will be located in Hancock County, it will border both Henry and Madison counties, where animal waste generated by the operation will be applied to the soil.
“The application indicates they are going to knife-in and inject 70 acres within Madison County limits,” said Tess Etchison, whose family operates a farm on County Road 300 East across the Madison County line from the proposed site. “We need to concern ourselves with trans-boundary pollution. We need cooperation; Hancock County is just across the road. We’re two fields from the Henry County line.”
Shannon and Josh Lawyer could not be reached for this story.
“I had heard there had been an application made some months back,” said Madison County Commissioner Paul Wilson, D-South District. “I don’t believe we have a regulatory say in what happens, but they have filed a permit with the office of land quality.”
According to the permit application, a self-contained concrete pit beneath slatted floors will be used for storage of liquid manure. Swine Pro 1 has also submitted an application for a Notice of Intent and a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit with IDEM.
“I have not been able to confirm this, but there may be manure application in Madison County and manure application in Henry County,” said Madison County Planning Director Michael Hershman. “There may be some informal cooperation between the counties, but the only people that would govern it is IDEM.”
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) defines confined feeding operations as any animal feeding operation engaged in the confined feeding of at least 300 cattle, 600 swine or sheep or 30,000 foul such as chickens, turkeys or other poultry.
Due to size or historical issues, some confined feeding operations are defined as CAFOs. A farm with 700 mature dairy cows, 2,500 swine over 55 pounds or 10,000 sheep, for example, would be considered a CAFO.
Nellie Seal resides less than a half-mile from the proposed CAFO in Henry County.
“They need to give themselves time to go over the ordinances, to check up and read up on how this has affected other people in other states,” Seal said. “I’m pretty sure we need to update our ordinances.”
Seal said the Lawyers run a 500-sow operation at present.
“We’ve lived here going on 25 years, and we’ve never complained about it,” she said. “We chose to live out here, I love it out here. We never complained about the hog operation. When they cleaned the pits we were able to handle it, but now they’re wanting to put in two buildings.”
CAFOs account for 350 of the 2,200 total farms in Indiana and 40 more are awaiting approval.
During a recent public meeting on the dangers associated with CAFOs, technical environmental specials Dennis Lasiter said they seldom pose a risk to public safety.
“We’ve only had two instances when we had to come in and shut down a CAFO,” he said. “There’s never been a serious need to address that problem.”
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