Accolades to the people representing the fight for better wind farm ordinances. This is an issue that keeps rearing its ugly head from time to time, and brings people out with legitimate worries. If you have any doubt as to the destruction and unsettling of people and nearby communities, just read some of the true documentaries online. These large wind turbines create a very unlivable atmosphere. I am so glad that someone listened to the pros and cons with an open mind, and the possibility they might be compromised, one day, by the large turbines.
Several years ago, I headed up a fight for better county ordinances against CAFOS. I cited some of the same problems the wind farm issue addressed. It all sounds so familiar: declining property values, quality of life, environment and remediation issues. However, even with over 300 signatures on our petition, with statistics from various places who already lived with these factory farms and countless documents, the plan commission decided that the hog stench was overcome by revenue, to the county, generating from the CAFOS. Ah! the sweet smell of money!
I am pretty sure that none of the Plan Commission members had to live near a hog CAFO. On days when the wind is from the southwest, a prevailing wind for our area, we cannot go outside and enjoy our yard. Also, when it is time to get the manure out of the big pits, under a slatted area, where hogs are raised, the manure has stagnated for as long as six months. If you have ever smelled rancid, this describes the word. The farmer specifies the fields he will drench with the rancid mixture and you can just grin and bear it.
On a daily basis, huge fans are in operation, and the mixture comes from within the CAFO. The particles are spewed out over the entire area and wherever the wind might blow it. These particles are quite small and a person can easily inhale them. We see a lot of respiratory and allergy problems in the area where these CAFOS are allowed.
The Area Plan Commission does not have all of the same members as when I headed up my challenge, but there are still politicians in the group. When I went before them, some were very fair and wanted all of the facts. Several rolled their eyes and just wanted me out of there. I was made fun of by a person they brought in to try to show the upside of CAFOS. They took a tour and seemed to think that showed the everyday basis of what went on in the surrounding areas. It did not begin to show what neighbors and the community all around the CAFO endure. So, we are stuck in a declining area with bad air quality and hog stench, and will either need to move or just put up with it.
I am so glad the Area Plan Commission listened with an open mind to the presentations about the wind farms. Perhaps the future will be brighter when a another legitimate problem is brought before those who decide for all of us.
