ANGOLA — Informal mediation continues between Steuben County residents and legal counsel for the petitioner of a proposed 4,800-hog confined animal feeding operation.
Keith Werner, owner of K&D Contract Pork, withdrew his special exception request for the CAFO with the Steuben County Plan Commission office in March. A special exception is required from the Steuben County Board of Zoning Appeals based on the size of the proposed CAFO. The county would then have the final say on whether Werner could have the operation.
John Schwarz, Werner’s attorney, said in March the withdrawal came in response to the Indiana Office of Environmental Adjudication request that parties pursue mediation to the objection filed by residents. The objection was in response to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management-issued CAFO permit.
“IDEM’s CAFO program has not had any activity for this permit,” Barry Sneed, IDEM public information officer said in a Wednesday email. “The permit was appealed in the Office of Environmental Adjudication. There was a hearing scheduled in March that did not take place because the petitioners requested a stay.”
A third-generation farmer, Werner has proposed a 60-acre hog operation at C.R. 600W and C.R. 200N. He proposed two barns, each containing a maximum 2,400 grow-to-finish hogs. Pigs for the operation would arrive at 55-60 pounds and leave weighing between 250-270 pounds. He received an IDEM permit in January.
Sneed said Schwarz indicated to IDEM legal staff that the parties were undergoing informal mediation and are exchanging information.
Werner and Schwarz could not be reached for comment Thursday.
“The current OEA order requires that IDEM file a proposed case management order by Sept. 23, 2014, so we should know by then whether the parties are going to be doing more formal mediation or move forward into litigating the case,” Sneed said.
Schwarz said in March, “Although those individuals opposed to my client’s petition at the county level are not part of the mediation ordered by the OEA, my client believes that a mediated agreement with the petitioners in the matter before the OEA will carry over and alleviate many, if not all, of the concerns voiced by the opponents to the zoning variance request.
“Should the mediation not generate a resolution with the matter before the OEA, my client anticipates the re-filing of the petition at the county level at a later date,” Schwarz said.
Werner, a third-generation farmer, has proposed a 60-acre hog operation at C.R. 600W and C.R. 200N. He proposed two barns, each containing a maximum 2,400 grow-to-finish hogs. Pigs for the operation would arrive at 55-60 pounds and leave weighing between 250-270 pounds.
Werner’s proposed CAFO has caused major uproar with lake dwellers and beyond. The parcel is near Pine Canyon, Crooked and Lime lakes and Lake Gage.
Major concerns have been voiced over potential pollution problems, air quality, water contamination from manure runoff, Steuben County’s tourism industry, decreased property values and damage to roads from excess truck weights.
Werner said in February he fully intends on being a good neighbor and land steward. He also said he won’t do anything to affect the environment.