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Neighbors who oppose the big hog farm under
construction near the Buckhart Tavern now have to put their money where
their mouths are. Last week, Sangamon County Circuit Judge Leslie Graves
granted a preliminary injunction halting farmer Bob Young’s
construction of a hog-confinement facility on Buckhart Road, less than a
mile from the landmark watering hole, and ordered those opposing the hog
farm to pony up a $60,000 bond. The injunction was sought by the Rochester-Buckhart
Action Group, a not-for-profit alliance of area homeowners who say that
Young’s planned pig farm will harm the environment, create a
nuisance, and significantly diminish their property values. Young’s
attorney, Tom Immel, argued that disrupting construction would cost Young
money and that the plaintiffs should have to put up a $1 million bond to
cover his losses. Graves directed Immel and RBAG to negotiate a
compromise bond amount, but when the two sides failed to reach an agreement
they went back to court last Wednesday, May 23. Graves came up with the
$60,000 figure. RBAG has until 11:59 p.m. Friday to secure the bond. If the
group doesn’t pay the bond, the injunction will dissolve at midnight,
Immel says. George Jamison, who lives about a mile and a half
from Young’s farm and is a member of RBAG’s board of directors,
said Tuesday that the group is working with a bond-insurance agent to meet
the bond. “I think we’re going to be able to
address this, but we’re still early in the process,” he says.
“I’ve never done one of these before.”
Young has already begun construction of the
controversial facility designed to hold 3,750 head of hogs [see Dusty
Rhodes, “Raising a stink,” May 17]. He planned to accept
delivery of several thousand 10-pound pigs by July 1 and begin the process
of raising them to market weight, using feed and medicine supplied by
Cargill. The $60,000 bond amount was based on Young’s
estimate of additional construction-related charges caused by an
anticipated three-month delay, plus $100 per day in interest charges on his
$800,000 construction loan and lost income. (Young expects a $425-per-day
payment from Cargill for raising the hogs, Immel says.) RBAG activists hosted another “informational
meeting” last Thursday evening in Buckhart. Two representatives from
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency also attended the meeting and
answered questions from area residents. Dave Ginder, an IEPA inspector,
told the residents that he covers a 17-county area and has learned that
odor complaints are among the most difficult cases to prove. State
regulations define air pollution in a way that seems to include odors but
specify that livestock produce inherent odors that do not constitute air
pollution. The federal EPA agreed to abstain from issuing odor violations
for a period of two years to give land-grant public universities a chance
to study ways to remediate odors. That agreement expires later this summer.
Karen Hudson, a founder of Families Against Rural
Messes, or FARM, also spoke at the meeting. She cited numerous scholarly
studies, as well as anecdotal examples, reporting harm to human beings
caused by residence near large-scale agricultural operations.
Contact Dusty Rhodes at drhodes@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in May 24-30, 2007.
