Supervisors recommend one of two CAFO expansions

The Jefferson County Board of Supervisors is recommending the Department of Natural Resources approve one of two hog confinement expansions planned by Ryan Robertson.

Robertson has applied for construction permits to expand KK Finsher at 1031 Quince Ave. in Penn Township and Brighton Finisher at 1083 Germanville Road in Walnut Township by 1,200 head each. Each currently houses 2,400 head.

Following a public hearing Thursday, the board recommends Brighton Finisher receive approval contingent upon DNR review of the manure management plan. A revised Master Matrix for KK Finisher was submitted hours before the hearing and will be reviewed within the next 30 days.

The original Master Matrix for KK Finisher failed to score the necessary 440 of 880 points after it was discovered 30 points were erroneously claimed for no violations within the last five years.

?From our research with the Iowa DNR, we discovered a history of notices of violations and administrative orders that date back to 2004, and one as recent as four years ago,? said Diane Rosenberg, executive director of Jefferson County Farmers and Neighbors Inc., speaking on behalf of the organization Thursday.

The violations included constructing without a storm water permit, poor erosion control methods and a 2007 manure spill. The spill, she said, resulted from manure application to highly saturated land during unfavorably rainy conditions. Robertson was fined $4,000.

JFAN also voiced concern about the manure management plans. Rosenberg noted manure will be hauled more than 20 miles for land application in southern Jefferson County.

?JFAN?s view is that this poses three problems. One is the risk of untimely road damage to well-traveled county roads, which comes at the taxpayer?s expense,? she said. ?Another problem is that it increases the risk of accidental manure spills.

?JFAN has had discussion with other area CAFO operators who have shared that it?s a much safer option to haul manure shorter distances on back county roads to mitigate any potential for manure spills.

?Third, we have done our own analysis of how much manure the land is able to absorb, and our opinion is that Mr. Robertson?s manure management plan is not sufficient,? she continued.

Francis Thicke submitted paperwork demonstrating miscalculations in the manure management plan. According to DNR statistics, Thicke said a maximum annual corn yield of 164 bushels per acre should have been used in calculations, but the plan shows 179.1 bushels per acre.

He went on to explain that inaccurate figure leads to excess phosphorus in the soil when application is based on nitrogen rates.

Thicke also believes manure application should only have been calculated at 3,360 gallons per acre ? rather than the 4,201 gallons per acre shown in the plan. At his recalculated rate, almost 169,000 gallons more manure than what may be applied will be produced.

Rosenberg concluded, ?It?s JFAN?s opinion that Mr. Robertson?s past violations illustrate a history of disregard for DNR regulations set up to protect the health and environment of Jefferson County residents.

?Further, his manure management plan does not take into account the safety of county residents, which the 2007 spill demonstrates,? she said.

?While the expansions on both sites are removed from major population centers, the KK finisher site is less than a mile from Pleasant Plain,? said Jim Rubis, speaking as a concerned citizen, not a representative of JFAN. ?[The manure management plan] calls for manure application just across the street from St. Joseph Catholic Church and several residences in the unincorporated town of East Pleasant Plain.?

Rubis also addressed the history of violations.

?With proven infractions and fines in several areas ranging from permit violations to construction and pollution, inaccurate separation measurements and manure application spills, I can only speculate how many other times best management practices have been ignored,? Rubis said.

If JFAN had not looked into Robertson?s record, the violations may not have come to light given the Master Matrix claimed no violations in the last five years, Rubis pointed out.

Calvin Jones, a farmer living about a half mile from one of the confinements, supported the expansions.

?I?ve lived in that neighborhood my whole life, and they have been good friends, good neighbors and, because of the hog production, a good business partner for me,? Jones said, explaining he spreads the manure on his land.

Jones said Robertson?s confinements are well maintained and superior to anything he has operated in previous years.

?They spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on manure application equipment that allows them to, through the use of soil sampling on my part and the manure management plan, to be able to apply fertilizer with high accuracy that I am amazed at,? Jones said. ?A year ago this fall, they spread on hog manure on three sides of my house, where I live, and I was tickled to get it.?

Brian Ritland, a representative of Pinnacle, the company that prepared the manure management plans, noted hog confinements must annually submit a manure management plan for DNR review. The issue of claiming no violations in the last five years was addressed in an amended Master Matrix submitted to the supervisors Thursday, he said.

Rosenberg responded that officials in the Washington, Iowa, DNR office have told her annual site inspections rarely occur because the DNR is so understaffed.

The supervisors unanimously opposed recommending approval of the KK Finisher expansion because points were subtracted from the original matrix for violations. The supervisors anticipate guidance from the DNR on how to treat the amended application.

The board unanimously recommended approval of the Brighton Finisher expansion, pending DNR approval of the manure management plan. Supervisor Steve Burgmeier was concerned about the conflicting figures used for corn yields.

Burgmeier also recommended that operators aim to score higher than the minimum on the Master Matrix, so new applications are not needed when points are discredited.