By EMMA HOPKINS-O’BRIEN

Indiana Correspondent

LINDEN, Ind. — Construction of a proposed swine confined feeding operation (CFO) was recently approved for a property in Montgomery County; this followed the submission of several comments to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) on a variety of concerns by Linden citizens.

In May, Chris Hudson, operator of Bowlder Ridge LLC, submitted an application to IDEM detailing a proposal to build the CFO west of 8399 North County Road 150 East in Crawfordsville. The application was to obtain a building permit to construct two grow-to-finish swine confinement buildings, each with a deep concrete pit beneath slatted floors providing liquid manure storage for 4,400 finish hogs.

Linden resident Monty Eldridge in particular expressed concern over drainage from the CFO.

“I know personally that the water table in this area is very high,” he said. “My concern is that any spill or improper disposal of waste or dead hogs will contaminate the water supply for my farm, my home, and the homes of my neighbors.”

A number of other Linden residents objected to the idea of a CFO in that area due to concerns such as water quality, drainage, and wildlife. IDEM wrote a report addressing each comment submitted, and in general, emphasized that CFO regulation provides a great deal of oversight on considerations such as design, construction, manure handling, and land application. Recordkeeping and inspection are also instituted measures to protect the environment.

“All of the state standards for design of waste storage structures and the standards for land applying the manure are intended to provide a high level of water quality protection,” IDEM stated. “The waste storage structures designed for this CFO meet the required protective design standards.”

Contamination of drinking water was a recurring worry among residents who submitted comments to IDEM in protest of the CFO. “We are extremely worried that the manure and dead animal pit will contaminate our well water,” said Larry Tschaenn in a comment. “What will they do with the manure during the winter when they cannot spread it?

“How can they ensure there will be no accidents and spillage during the transportation of manure? The greatest fear is the diseases we could be exposed to if manure contaminates our wells.”

Resident Candi Harmon Kruse expressed similar concerns: “The area has extremely poor drainage already; since I was a small child, Country Road 900 N consistently floods and washes out even in moderate rain.”

IDEM responded by pointing out current regulations of the EPA and IDEM do not address pathogen reduction requirements for animal waste.

“Manure has been historically utilized as a crop nutrient in farming operations,” it stated. “IDEM’s CFO Program focuses on the manure nutrient constituents and how to utilize those nutrients in crop production while minimizing the potential of the nutrients having a negative impact on surface or ground waters.”

To comply with current IDEM regulations, the operation’s waste will be land-applied on field crops at agronomic rates to assure proper use of nutrients in the manure, and to avoid leaching into groundwater. The operation itself will be built according to regulated setback standards of IDEM and the office of the State Chemist.

This buffer is intended to minimize potential effects of runoff from the manure application site, which must be 500 feet from the nearest water supply. IDEM indicated one of the land application sites included within the farm’s plans is within the town of Linden water well protection area, but the closest portion of that field is more than 1,350 feet away from the water supply.

Other comments were concerned about both endangered species in the area and the possible attraction of pests from mortality composting and manure. For the former, IDEM said the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reported no species of concern in the location of the CFO.

Linden residents such as Olga Berezhnaya worry about their own livestock. “Our family are not hunters,” she said. “We raise a couple tens of cows. Every single night we hear coyotes and see them sometimes on the edge of our pastures during a day. With a dead animal pit, it would attract even more of them in our area.”

While this may be of valid concern, IDEM said certain factors do not fall under its jurisdiction.

“Odors, insects, rodents, and coyotes are not something that IDEM can take into consideration during the permit process,” it said in its report. “To date there are no federal or state odor standards to impose or consider during the permit review process.”

That said, disposal of dead animals from the operation has been considered in terms of water contamination. A roof-covered, concrete-floored mortality composting facility with exterior grading will serve to direct stormwater away from dead hogs and control stormwater runoff.

Other comments addressed the effect of a CFO on property zoning, road usage, and property values. Again, IDEM responded that such factors are out of its jurisdiction to consider when granting a permit, though land use ordinances may provide citizens the opportunity to object to county zoning or construction permit approval.

John Frey of the Montgomery County Commission could not recall such a project ever being considered on a county level.

“We have 16 CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations) currently operating in Montgomery County,” he said. “This is nothing new to our community. We are a rural ag community. This is a localized issue, and we have no issues with any of the other CAFOs.”