Approximately a dozen residents flooded the room where the Marshall County Board of Supervisors were meeting Tuesday to voice their displeasure with the county’s acceptance of a manure management plan, one of the hurdles that must be cleared before the hog confinement facilities can move forward.

“This deal stinks before it all starts,” said Mike Schau, a local resident in the area. “And if you can’t smell it by the time we’re done here today, then we’ve all got big problems.”

Residents say the company is planning to build three separate facilities on recently-purchased land. The facilities could hold as many as 2,400 hogs each, which are technically not large-scale hog confinement operations, according to the state’s parameters.

Any confinement of 2,500 or more hogs is subject to additional state regulations.

Besides the smell and environmental issues neighbors say could arise if the facilities come to fruition, another concern mentioned was the lack of responsiveness that residents fear a corporation could exhibit. Some said the situation would be different if it were a local, private farmer.

Source: The Times Republican