Neighbors concerned about runoff into Lake Wawasee
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
LIGONIER - Noble County farmer Kevin Davidsen presented his plans for a confined feeding lot for hogs at 5:30 p.m. in the West Noble Middle School cafetorium Thursday.
Davidsen's application for the 1,000-head operation has come under fire from neighbors near and far. In addition to Noble County residents in close proximity to his land on CR 200N, about one-half mile west of Ind. 5, residents of Kosciusko County, specifically those living along Lake Wawasee, came to hear and question him about the proposed development.
From Davidsen's farm, the land drops 50 feet over one mile to Dillon Creek. Turkey Creek is to the west and south of the property. Both waterways go directly to Lake Wawasee, the state's largest natural body of water.
Representatives of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management joined about 75 people Thursday as the farmer discussed the facility. Davidsen was joined by Michael Veenhuizen, a representative of Livestock Engineering Solutions. Veenhuizen's company is designing the CFO building and pit.
The animals will belong to Michiana Con Agra.
IDEM is responsible for administering the state's CFO approval program. For CFO approval, the staff concentrates on facility siting requirements, design and construction requirements for manure storage structures and accessibility to adequate acreage for land application of manure.
Local zoning and development issues fall under the jurisdiction of the local government, in this case the Cromwell town council.
"I've lived on this farm for 36 years," Davidsen began. He explained that his proposal includes one swine confinement building to be 40 by 200 feet with a 7.67-foot deep concrete pit for the storage of manure and wastewater. The pit would provide 370 days of storage for liquid waste. It can hold up to 400,000 gallons.
Davidsen plans to inject liquid manure into 54 acres of his land and 36 leased acres, an amount that exceeds the required 52-acre minimum.
He said the hogs would arrive at a weight of 10 to 12 pounds and be "finished" in about six months at 250 to 270 pounds.
In response to many questions, Davidsen and Veenhuizen said odors should be taken care of by exhaust fans; Michiana Con Agra will conduct weekly inspections; dead animals will be composted with sawdust; there is little risk of a manure spill; and Davidsen would not expand the operation for three to five years.
The property owner is responsible for building maintenance, animal health, contracting land applicators and any liabilities.
Veenhuizen assured the audience there is very little risk of a spill and if the fields are too wet for an annual land application, the waste could be hauled away.
During the break, more people came to the meeting place, bringing the audience total to more than 100.
At 7 p.m. a public hearing was conducted, with Tom Winston of IDEM saying written public comments would be accepted until Feb. 23. A decision and response are anticipated to be issued in March.
David White of Sylvan Lake Association said there is a CFO-dairy operation near the lake and there have been problems with land application and transportation of the manure.
White said the majority of CFOs are very well run, but this one is planned in an environmentally sensitive area.
"IDEM has no setbacks for CFOs and there is no well monitoring done," he said.
Bob Ott of the Wawasee Property Owners Association said the "not-in-my- back-yard" attitude many residents are adopting bothers him.
"Hold up your hand if you're a member of the Wawasee Property Owners Association." About 75 hands went up. "Now keep your hand up if you do not fertilize your lawn." About five hands remained in the air.
Fertilizers add nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to the soil.
Steve Snyder, serving as legal counsel to the Wawasee Area Conservancy Foundation, said, "It is very optimistic to say the CFO will never be a problem. IDEM would never allow effluent from a town of 1,000 people to be land applied on 90 acres."
He mentioned that the manure will contain nitrogen and phosphorus and eventually will end up in the creeks that feed Lake Wawasee.
Additionally, the hog food will most likely contain arsenic, copper, zinc and antibiotics, which will eventually wash into the waterways, too, Snyder said.
The concrete pit cannot really be considered watertight unless there are no cracks in it, Snyder said, and any crack wider than four-thousandths of an inch leaks. Because a tile will surround the pit, the pressure from 400,000 gallons of waste will be very great.
"All it takes is one catastrophe for the worst kind of nutrients to enter the state's cleanest lake," Snyder said.
He introduced Noble County surveyor Scott Ziegler, hydrogeologist Tony Flemming; Eric Ellison, a wetlands biologist with Earth Source, Fort Wayne; and Prof. Jennifer Tang of Notre Dame.
Ziegler said the land fall from Davidsen's property to the creeks is substantial. He said 10 check dams to control the flow of Dillon Creek were installed in the last year.
Flemming, using maps and data, called the soil type in the area "Aubbeenaubbee," a fine sandy loam. He said the soil in the surrounding area is mostly of a sand and gravel composition to six feet and the creeks are fed by groundwater. He predicted that groundwater from the land-applied fields could run 4,000 feet into Turkey Creek in around 354 days, as quickly as 35.4 days or as slowly as 3,540 days.
He said nitrogen would be introduced to the groundwater in the form of ammonia and ammonium.
Arsenic is a typical food supplement to enhance hog growth, he said. It stays "quite mobile" through groundwater.
Flemming also expressed concern about antibiotics applied to the fields.
"Plants require a certain balance of fungi and bacteria to grow. What kind of mutations will you get with antibiotics? What happens to that balance? We do not know," Flemming said.
He said his biggest concern is the addition of nitrogen year after year.
Ellison said the rate of additional nitrogen from a 456,079-gallon liquid manure pit would produce 192 pounds per acre per year over 90 acres, and 315 pounds of nitrogen over the minimally required 52 acreage.
"Nitrogen levels in Dillon Creek are already the highest in Indiana," Flemming said, "and ammonia kills aquatic life."
He also presented figures regarding the addition of phosphorus per acre, saying phosphorus levels should not exceed 65 pounds per acre for corn, 55 pounds for soybeans, 95 for wheat and 100 for pasture/grass. A 456,079-gallon manure pit will produce 136 pounds per acre over 90 acres and 236 pounds per acre over 52 acres. [[In-content Ad]]
LIGONIER - Noble County farmer Kevin Davidsen presented his plans for a confined feeding lot for hogs at 5:30 p.m. in the West Noble Middle School cafetorium Thursday.
Davidsen's application for the 1,000-head operation has come under fire from neighbors near and far. In addition to Noble County residents in close proximity to his land on CR 200N, about one-half mile west of Ind. 5, residents of Kosciusko County, specifically those living along Lake Wawasee, came to hear and question him about the proposed development.
From Davidsen's farm, the land drops 50 feet over one mile to Dillon Creek. Turkey Creek is to the west and south of the property. Both waterways go directly to Lake Wawasee, the state's largest natural body of water.
Representatives of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management joined about 75 people Thursday as the farmer discussed the facility. Davidsen was joined by Michael Veenhuizen, a representative of Livestock Engineering Solutions. Veenhuizen's company is designing the CFO building and pit.
The animals will belong to Michiana Con Agra.
IDEM is responsible for administering the state's CFO approval program. For CFO approval, the staff concentrates on facility siting requirements, design and construction requirements for manure storage structures and accessibility to adequate acreage for land application of manure.
Local zoning and development issues fall under the jurisdiction of the local government, in this case the Cromwell town council.
"I've lived on this farm for 36 years," Davidsen began. He explained that his proposal includes one swine confinement building to be 40 by 200 feet with a 7.67-foot deep concrete pit for the storage of manure and wastewater. The pit would provide 370 days of storage for liquid waste. It can hold up to 400,000 gallons.
Davidsen plans to inject liquid manure into 54 acres of his land and 36 leased acres, an amount that exceeds the required 52-acre minimum.
He said the hogs would arrive at a weight of 10 to 12 pounds and be "finished" in about six months at 250 to 270 pounds.
In response to many questions, Davidsen and Veenhuizen said odors should be taken care of by exhaust fans; Michiana Con Agra will conduct weekly inspections; dead animals will be composted with sawdust; there is little risk of a manure spill; and Davidsen would not expand the operation for three to five years.
The property owner is responsible for building maintenance, animal health, contracting land applicators and any liabilities.
Veenhuizen assured the audience there is very little risk of a spill and if the fields are too wet for an annual land application, the waste could be hauled away.
During the break, more people came to the meeting place, bringing the audience total to more than 100.
At 7 p.m. a public hearing was conducted, with Tom Winston of IDEM saying written public comments would be accepted until Feb. 23. A decision and response are anticipated to be issued in March.
David White of Sylvan Lake Association said there is a CFO-dairy operation near the lake and there have been problems with land application and transportation of the manure.
White said the majority of CFOs are very well run, but this one is planned in an environmentally sensitive area.
"IDEM has no setbacks for CFOs and there is no well monitoring done," he said.
Bob Ott of the Wawasee Property Owners Association said the "not-in-my- back-yard" attitude many residents are adopting bothers him.
"Hold up your hand if you're a member of the Wawasee Property Owners Association." About 75 hands went up. "Now keep your hand up if you do not fertilize your lawn." About five hands remained in the air.
Fertilizers add nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to the soil.
Steve Snyder, serving as legal counsel to the Wawasee Area Conservancy Foundation, said, "It is very optimistic to say the CFO will never be a problem. IDEM would never allow effluent from a town of 1,000 people to be land applied on 90 acres."
He mentioned that the manure will contain nitrogen and phosphorus and eventually will end up in the creeks that feed Lake Wawasee.
Additionally, the hog food will most likely contain arsenic, copper, zinc and antibiotics, which will eventually wash into the waterways, too, Snyder said.
The concrete pit cannot really be considered watertight unless there are no cracks in it, Snyder said, and any crack wider than four-thousandths of an inch leaks. Because a tile will surround the pit, the pressure from 400,000 gallons of waste will be very great.
"All it takes is one catastrophe for the worst kind of nutrients to enter the state's cleanest lake," Snyder said.
He introduced Noble County surveyor Scott Ziegler, hydrogeologist Tony Flemming; Eric Ellison, a wetlands biologist with Earth Source, Fort Wayne; and Prof. Jennifer Tang of Notre Dame.
Ziegler said the land fall from Davidsen's property to the creeks is substantial. He said 10 check dams to control the flow of Dillon Creek were installed in the last year.
Flemming, using maps and data, called the soil type in the area "Aubbeenaubbee," a fine sandy loam. He said the soil in the surrounding area is mostly of a sand and gravel composition to six feet and the creeks are fed by groundwater. He predicted that groundwater from the land-applied fields could run 4,000 feet into Turkey Creek in around 354 days, as quickly as 35.4 days or as slowly as 3,540 days.
He said nitrogen would be introduced to the groundwater in the form of ammonia and ammonium.
Arsenic is a typical food supplement to enhance hog growth, he said. It stays "quite mobile" through groundwater.
Flemming also expressed concern about antibiotics applied to the fields.
"Plants require a certain balance of fungi and bacteria to grow. What kind of mutations will you get with antibiotics? What happens to that balance? We do not know," Flemming said.
He said his biggest concern is the addition of nitrogen year after year.
Ellison said the rate of additional nitrogen from a 456,079-gallon liquid manure pit would produce 192 pounds per acre per year over 90 acres, and 315 pounds of nitrogen over the minimally required 52 acreage.
"Nitrogen levels in Dillon Creek are already the highest in Indiana," Flemming said, "and ammonia kills aquatic life."
He also presented figures regarding the addition of phosphorus per acre, saying phosphorus levels should not exceed 65 pounds per acre for corn, 55 pounds for soybeans, 95 for wheat and 100 for pasture/grass. A 456,079-gallon manure pit will produce 136 pounds per acre over 90 acres and 236 pounds per acre over 52 acres. [[In-content Ad]]