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Kevin Davidsen's request to develop a hog finishing facility will be given public hearing Thursday in a meeting hosted by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management at West Noble Middle School.
At 5:30 p.m. Davidsen will appear before an IDEM review board.
At 7 p.m. the public may make comments.
Davidsen's Noble County venture has alarmed Kosciusko County residents - specifically property owners at Lake Wawasee - who fear runoff from the operation will enter into and pollute the watershed and largest natural lake in the state.
The Noble County farmer plans to build a finishing barn for 1,000 hogs on CR 200N in Noble County. He would inject manure from the operation into his fields, he said at a November meeting of the Cromwell town council.
Local opponents of the confined feeding operation have hired lawyer Steve Snyder to represent their interests.
Snyder said his research into confined hog feeding indicates arsenic is used as a food supply supplement "because it enhances weight gain.
"It's not absorbed into the pork but goes 'straight through' the animal and is land applied."
Snyder said hogs are also regularly fed the antibiotic tetracycline.
Prof. Jennifer Tang of the University of Notre Dame; Eric Ellingson, a wetlands biologist with Earth Source of Fort Wayne; Tony Flemming, hydrologist; and Noble County surveyor Scott Ziegler are expected to speak against the CFO Thursday.
From the area of Davidsen's farm, the land drops more than 50 feet over a mile with runoff entering both Dillon Creek to the north and Turkey Creek to the south.
Both creeks enter into Lake Wawasee.
Snyder said Davidsen's application shows groundwater 9 to 36 inches below the surface with high water tables all year.
"The potential, I think, is there for damage to water quality," said State Senator Kent Adams this morning. The legislator said he's talked with IDEM and the Wawasee property owners to alert them to the potential harm.
"Our county has more than 100 lakes and considerable monies, state and private, have been spent in the Wawasee area. If your approve something like this are you putting your good money against yourself?" Adams asked.
West Noble Middle School is on Ind. 33 south of Ligonier.
