Melissa Gilliam, Free Press correspondent

MARYSVILLE, Ohio. -- The Ohio Department of Agriculture is expected to come to a decision within 30 days regarding Hi-Q Egg Products, LLC's request for final permits to install and operate a 15-house egg farm in West Mansfield. Each structure will house 400,000 laying hens, for a total of 6 million birds on the 437-acre facility. Vehemently opposed by residents, the Union County Health Department, and several local officials, the Johnston, Iowa-based development would be the largest egg-producing facility in Ohio.

Members of the Northwest Neighborhood Alliance, a citizen action group formed to fight the project, argued that adding 6 million birds to the county, which is already home to 3 million birds, would be environmentally irresponsible and unsustainable. Current ODA regulations do not consider concentration of animals within a geographic area when reviewing a farm's application for a permit, and the state of Ohio does not require an Environmental Impact Assessment for agricultural development.

The window for official public comments to the ODA ended December 23, 2008. A public meeting was held December 17th at Marysville High School, where citizens and Union County officials voiced their opposition to the project. Forty-five residents spoke, most notably about how the facility's estimated annual liquid manure production of 23.5 million gallons would burden the local water system. Other concerns involved the negative impacts on the area's air, water, and soil quality, as well as the potential to create human health problems. Residents also complained the development would have a detrimental effect on property values, and several members of the animal rights group, Mercy for Animals, spoke out against the company on ethical grounds, citing objections to "factory farm" living conditions for the birds.

Tom McCarthy, a Union County Commissioner, opposed the project on the grounds that Hi-Q has not been accountable to the public and recommended the permitting process be put on hold. He said that Hi-Q representatives have been reluctant to discuss necessary road improvements that must be made to support increased heavy trucking traffic that would come with the facility. He also said a traffic study was done by Hi-Q without the input of the county engineer.

On December 22nd, Union County Prosecutor Dave Phillips submitted his formal complaints to the ODA on behalf of the Union County Commissioners and the York Township trustees. Complaints included the developer's unwillingness to meet with county officials regarding infrastructure improvements, as well as their failure to actually purchase the York Township site for the farm. The official complaint also included concerns that Hi-Q's pest control management and manure spill emergency response plans were inadequate. Phillips told the Free Press in a phone interview last week that the ODA requires negotiation between the developers and municipalities regarding infrastructural improvements, but acknowledged that the statute isn't very clear about what agreements, if any, must be made.

"The statute itself provides remedies to townships/counties if the improvements aren't put into place, but they're post-permit. That presupposes there's an agreement, and we think there should be one," says Phillips.

County officials believe there should be an agreement, and the ODA says they cannot deny the permit if all of the requirements are met. "We're more stringent than anyone in the U.S.," said Bill Schwaderer, spokesperson for ODA.

Tom Lohr, spokesman for Hi-Q, verified that a preliminary of analysis of road repair needs was done after the initial meeting with Union County took place and Hi-Q regarded the county's proposals as being too intensive and costly at this point.

"We've done everything required by the ODA at this point. Once we get the permit, then we'll work out the details. Why spend thousands of thousands of dollars estimating repair needs until we have the permit?"

Lohr also mentioned the possibility of building a northern entrance to a state highway, rather than county roads, in order to avoid traffic conflicts.

In response to questions of environmental concerns the facility may pose, Lohr said, "The buildings are large enough that all the loading of the truck will be done within the building, so the risk of contamination from any manure is basically zero.

"It's not going to be made wet. It's not like a pig farm where where you have liquid manure. The only liquid that will be on this farm will be from the egg-washing water," said Lohr.

If the permit is granted, Union County officials and effective citizens can appeal to the Environmental Review Appeals Commission, an appellate board appointed by the Governor, but as the ERAC's primary function is hearing appeals on Ohio Environmental Protection Agency decisions, it is unclear what jurisdiction they would have over a permit granted by the ODA.

The City of Dover and Clean Coal

Kyle Valentini, Free Press guest columnist

The City of Dover has signed a contract with AMP-Ohio to purchase power for the next fifty years from a proposed $3.3 Billion coal-fired power plant to be built in Letart Falls, Ohio. The plant will be the fifth of its kind in a 10 mile radius. The original estimated price tag was $1.2 billion. AMP-Ohio released new numbers in November, with estimates projected at $3.3 billion, plus financing. Costs could increase even more if federal regulations to control carbon dioxide are enacted. The proposed contract is a take-or-pay contract, where ratepayers, including Dover Light and Power customers, must pay for the plant for 50 years, no matter how high the costs go.

Cities and towns that buy into the proposed AMP-Ohio coal plant may be unwittingly buying into 'mountaintop removal,' a method of coal extraction that literally decapitates Appalachian mountains. Despite what AMP-Ohio maintains, the participants committee will not decide whether this new plant uses coal from mountaintop removal operations. Analysis of the proposed AMP-Ohio contract concluded that it was the AMP-Ohio Board that would decide. The coal industry has already destroyed 470 mountaintops in Central Appalacia, polluting drinking water, killing rivers and destoying wildlife.

AMP-Ohio discloses the new plant will release 20 million pounds of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide into the air each year. Residents in Meigs County already suffer from health effects linked to pollution from the four other coal-fired power plants: American Electric Power’s Philip Sporn, Mountaineer and JM Gavin plants, and Ohio Valley Electric Corporation’s Kyger Creek plant.

An appeal has been filed against the final National Pollution Discharge Elimination Systems (NPDES) permit issued for the American Municipal Power Generating Station by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. The appeal with the Ohio Environmental Review Appeals Commission, was made by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Ohio Environmental Council and Sierra Club. In the opening paragraph it states, 'The permit allows AMP to discharge pollutants into the Ohio River, John’s Run, and unnamed tributaries of the Ohio River from its proposed coal-fired power plant in Letart Falls.’

Cities and towns have very little time to formally notify AMP-Ohio that they want out of the 50-year contract for electricity from the proposed new plant. Tell Mayor Homrighausen and the members of city council this is not how you want your hard earned money spent when there are alternatives that are better for the residents of Ohio and the environment. Dover’s contract with AMP-Ohio does not guarantee lower rates or jobs for Ohioans.