There are factory chicken houses being built near Roaring River State Park, Roaring River, Table Rock Lake and Mark Twin National Forest.
Over 60 people wrote letters to protest the building of these factories on such treasured land. The Administrative Hearing Commission set the dates of January 7th through the 11th, 2008 to hear this concern.
Mark Stephenson [who owns property nearby] asked for a stay of the construction until the commission could hear from the people that have to live and visit the area. A stay hearing was conducted in Jefferson City July 18,2007. Administrative Hearing Commissioner John Kopp ordered a stay of the construction on July 25th rescinding the Missouri Department of Natural Resources permit for the construction due to the fact that the papers used for the permit were not legal.
On July 25th the four shells of the buildings were up but none of the inside had been installed: insulation, lighting, waterers, feeders, cages, electricity, the bulk feed hoppers, nor the generator shed or the two sheds that will hold the used chicken litter and dead chickens...and on and on.
This week it’s full steam ahead for the Ozbuns. They are continuing their construction, which is in contempt of the stay order. Springfield’s regional office of the DNR has given Mark several different answers. One there wasn’t a stay order (we have the letter from Commissioner Kopp stating there is a stay.) Another was the stay only applies to the buildings (I guess just the shells.) All stated they haven’t even seen a copy of the stay. So how could they know what it says?
No one is enforcing the stay order and work continues. HELP!!!!!!!
Beverly Sweeney
Eagle Rock, MO
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