IDEM Talks, But Does it Listen?
As I reported earlier, concern over a dairy CAFO in St. Joseph County cause IDEM to schedule a public meeting in the county to "discuss" the issue. However, IDEM required ALL questions to be addressed at the meeting to be submitted in writing ahead of time, and from reports of the meeting, this permitted IDEM to pick the questions they would answer, and also take some liberties in the editing of these questions, effectively giving them the opportunity to say what they wanted to say without facing any actual tough questions from the citizens of St. Jo:
"This is actually a new format for us and what we are trying to do is make it as informational as possible. In the past, our public hearings have been sort of 1-sided, we only accepted comments and not really were we able to respond and provide information," said Idem Spokesperson Amy Hardstock.
Link (WNDU).
In a sign of just how unsatisfied people were at the meeting’s end, many applauded when Steve Ross, a county commissioner, blasted the almost 10 state experts from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management who answered questions during the meeting.
Ross said they were merely bureaucrats who were promoting large feedlots like the one under consideration. The state is currently weighing whether to grant a permit for the concentrated animal feeding operation.
Link (South Bend Tribune).
Local control debate continues over in Grant County, where county commissioners are considering the recommendations of the planning commission:
A move to delete the section requiring the monitoring of wells, however, did not pass. Purdue Extension officer John Woodmansee said he was concerned the section would turn the Area Plan Commission into a regulatory body, which it is not.
Ellis said the language would give him teeth if he saw problems with the wells because the state’s guidelines do not go as far.
The ordinance before the commission has evolved from just regulating confined animal feeding operations and confined feeding operations to include all animal feeding operations that have more than the minimum number of an animal.
Link (Grant County Chronicle-Tribune).
