Captured on film are pictures of hog sewage being "removed" from the confinement. In middle May 2008 Darvin and Tish Bentlage sent photos to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for an explanation as to why this run-off is allowed to contaminate the water supply on one of their farm locations. The DNR told them that they would investigate.
We are the couple surrounded by CAFOs, with more projected to be built. Our problem is they are concentrating them heavily in here. Building class II's is the way they get around rules. And this is what they are doing building a higher concentration of class II's which will have the effect of a class I facility.
A truck came in last week and loaded up some more pigs. More times than not they lose one or two; they are run over by the trucks and left in the road. It becomes frustrating to watch this and to see how industrilized our area is becoming--the huge trucks and the way our county roads are all tore up. And the smell !
We raise registerd black angus and are having some genetic problems with them on the farm that is downstream from a CAFO nursery. We are seeing multiple births and deformed calves. We have to send water samples off to a lab that can test for hormones and antibiotics. Our suspicion is that the lagoon from the CAFO upstream is leaking into the stream next to it and consequently affecting our cattle in strange ways.
We have been poo(p)-pooed by the state vet, but at least found an extension agent to be more helpful, although still no resolve.
We have two other areas in the county where we have cattle and not a single problem. It saddens me to see the rift this situation has caused in our area.
But as we were told,"We don't care what you like or don't like. We will build."
This will be a difficult place to live in this coming year, and if they put one directly south of us-it will be horrid.
We have big issues in my county [Barton]. They issued a boil order for the county seat!! E-Coli is in the water. They said, "turbidity," but the DNR issued a boil order for e-coli. We'll see.
We have a rental that is directly north of the nursery, and my tenant called to say he could not breathe. He had three grandkids over and they could not eat their lunch without gagging.
Ken is on oxygen. I [Tish] called the health department to document the problem as well as the DNR. We'll see.
Commentary by Tish and Darvin Bentlage, Golden, MO
Comments