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Fulton County to add hog rules: Commissioners Will Vote Jan. 10 On Requiring More Space Between Barns And Other Buildings And Installation Of Monitoring Wells.
(Paducah Sun, The (KY) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Dec. 29--HICKMAN, Ky. -- Fulton County commissioners are poised to narrowly enact much tougher hog farm restrictions six months after dropping a similar ordinance under pressure from hog opponents.
A second reading of the proposed ordinance is scheduled for Jan. 10. It passed on first reading Dec. 13 by a 3-2 vote with Judge-Executive Harold Garrison opposing. He said he couldn't support the provision because a June lawsuit by hog farm opponents forced the county to drop an earlier ordinance that Garrison deemed sufficient.
"I think we ought to let the state take care of it," he said. "They have more expertise to administer these hog houses than the counties do."
Hog farmers are now threatening to sue to block the new ordinance, which requires barns to be built at least 2,000 feet from schools, homes, businesses and other structures, compared with 1,500 feet under the old ordinance. The new regulations double the setback distance from roads to 300 feet and require a minimum of 5,000 feet between barns and city limits.
The new ordinance also forces farmers to install three groundwater monitoring wells each, or alternatively put in leak-detection systems or other monitoring devices. Any manure or wastewater proposed for land disposal must be injected into the soil rather than spread on the ground. Open waste lagoons are barred in favor of concrete pits beneath hog barn floors.
"We view it as extremely restrictive to the point that it's financially prohibitive," Fulton County farmer Jim Moss said. "We don't believe the ordinance will stand legally, and there's definitely been contemplation of legal action against the ordinance."
By some estimates, monitoring wells will cost $30,000 apiece, Moss said. "Whether those are the types of wells the court intended for us to have we don't know because there is no list of specifications."
He said state and local Farm Bureau leaders intend to meet with members of the fiscal court to try to better educate them on the ramifications of the ordinance.
The new regulations were initially approved during a long commission meeting in which various people -- notably Moss and Fulton resident Barry Sharp -- expressed opposing views.
On behalf of Citizens for a Better Fulton County, Sharp presented petitions purportedly bearing the signatures of more than 1,000 people seeking heavier restrictions on hog farms than even the new ordinance provides. Among other things, Sharp's group favored increasing the distance from hog barns to neighboring dwellings to 2,500 feet, and from roadways to 750 feet.
Moss challenged the validity of the signatures, claiming they were solicited in front of the Fulton Wal-Mart and represented many spouses and children of signees, plus people not from Fulton County. He said Wednesday that he thinks the petitions swayed the court vote away from farming interests, and family farmers will bear the high costs caused by the restrictions.
Messages left Wednesday at Sharp's home were not returned. But Jim Paitsel, an attorney representing the citizens group, said the petition has no force of law.
"I really think it was to show magistrates there was a concern in the county that people did want some restrictions placed on these farms," Paitsel said. "They (citizens' group) may not be happy with the ordinance but they're pleased they got something in place. There is always room for change in the future."
After hearing concerns from both sides, Fulton County Attorney Rick Major left the Dec. 13 meeting to revise the ordinance before it was voted on. Paitsel said the ordinance reflected considerable input from the Kentucky Resources Council, a Frankfort-based environmental organization.
"There was a lot of compromise in this, and Rick worked hard on it," Paitsel said.
Major said he revised a draft from Commissioner Billy Nelms Jr. that had come from the Kentucky Resources Council. Nelms cast one of the three favorable votes.
Moss is among nine farmers in Fulton, Hickman and Carlisle counties who intend to build hog barns under contract with Tosh Farms of Union City, Tenn. Paitsel said the "main thing" the new ordinance does is to require farmers and developer Jimmy Tosh to share liability for any damages to the environment or neighboring properties.
He compared the potential of hog waste contaminating streams and groundwater to that of underground gasoline tanks that big oil companies installed 50 years ago at local stations. Station operators weren't aware that the tanks eventually would leak, Paitsel said.
"We don't know what's going to happen 20 years down the road, or five or even two years down the road," Paitsel said. "They're relying on Tosh's word that these operations are safe."
Tosh has repeatedly said his hog farms are safe and meet environmental regulations. He plans to build about 60 barns in far western Kentucky over the next three years, increasing the state hog population by 144,000, or nearly 38 percent.
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