Marshal County CAFO
Are CAFO regulations coming to Marshall County? Maybe, but not before Mishawaka hog industrialist Matt Laidig has his 8,000-head farm proposal reviewed. County commissioners heard from residents on the issue yesterday:
I don’t know of anything … that triggers an automatic public hearing,” Ralph Booker, county planning director, told the commissioners.
Booker pointed out that there is no ordinance for the county that would require such an operation to request a special exemption.
“Our ordinance says (the facility has to be) a quarter-mile (away from the nearest residence),” Booker said. “There’s no special exemption required for these types of operations.”
Marshall County officials have been discussing for more than two years now the upgrade of the 1974-issued county comprehensive plan. None of the existing ordinances specifically address confined feeding operations, he said.
Indiana Department of Environmental Management officials had notified neighbors of the proposed operation because IDEM is responsible for monitoring water. IDEM has declined to hold a public hearing on the matter, but is receiving public comment, the men said.
[Neighbor Dave] Williams argued that confined feeding operations, in general, have more in common with industrial than agricultural activities, and should be zoned as such.. . . .After considerable discussion, the commissioners voted unanimously to draft an ordinance requiring a livestock operation requiring an IDEM permit to have to seek a special exemption from the county, as well.
