Residents oppose plan for hog farm

FARLEY, Mo. -- A plan to more than double the number of pigs at a hog farm near this western Missouri community has drawn strong opposition from some people concerned about the smell and the impact on environment and property values.

But the farmers say the operation they have in mind would not create odor problems and state officials say that because there would be no waste discharged from the hog barns, water quality problems are not likely.

Brothers Gary and Warren Oberdiek now have about 1,430 hogs and young nursery pigs in two barns at ther Oberdiek Family Farm. They want to add two barns and increase the number of pigs to 3,880.

They have a Class II environmental permit from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources now, and need a Class 1C permit to go ahead with the expansion.

On Wednesday about 100 people attending a meeting at the Farley fire station questioned federal and state environmental officials about the plan, and voiced their criticisms of it.

The farm is about a mile northwest of Farley, in the Missouri River bottoms west of Kansas City International Airport.

Cutting-edge system

The Overdieks say they have a cutting-edge hog production system that reduces odor and mess. Pigs are raised on the second floor of barns, with manure and waste mixed with sawdust or wood chips and dried on the first floor, becoming compost for crop fields. There are no outdoor liquid waste lagoons.

"I'm relatively sure the system will have no odor problem," Warren Oberdiek said.

But some neighbors also worry that the waste would harm wells or the downstream Kansas City water system, which serves much of the area.

"We don't want to be part of an experiment," said Donald Schlueter, a member of the Farley Village Board of Trustees. "We'd like to stop that. You can experiment somewhere else."

If the farm meets engineering and environmental requirements, a permit will be granted in mid-November, said Jim Macy, the Kansas City regional director for the Natural Resources Department.

Macy said the Oberdiek farm is not large enough to have to meet state air quality regulations for odor problems.

All soil and water factors will be checked. But department staff members said that because there would be no waste discharge from the barns, water quality problems or effects on Kansas City's water system 27 miles downstream would be unlikely. Manure spread on fields would be monitored by the state.

Farley resident Tim Moore said he supports the Oberdieks because he thinks the expansion they plan would be environmentally friendly.

John Kussman of Gladstone, who sells swine confinement equipment, said he has visited a hog building in Ohio that has the same design as the Oberdiek farm and odor was not a problem.

"I was really impressed," Kussman said. "It worked."