Hog farm permit denied; Proposal withdrawn

Request sought 999-animal unit hog operation near Sleepy Eye

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Stink or no stink, Brown County commissioners can't consider a conditional use permit for a hog operation now that the man behind the plan has officially withdrawn his request.

The permit request proposed to put a 999-animal unit hog operation about 1 mile northwest of Sleepy Eye. After listening to public testimony regarding the farm, the Brown County Planning and Zoning Board unanimously denied the request Tuesday morning.

The proposal would have had a second chance at approval next Tuesday if it had gone before the Brown County Board as originally scheduled.

However, Gerald Eckstein, the New Ulm businessman proposing the hog operation, effectively cancelled that vote with a letter he sent to the Brown County Planning and Zoning Office Tuesday afternoon, in which he announced the withdrawal of his application.

Eckstein could not be reached at either his home or business for comment. He also refused to comment after the planning board's meeting concluded.

The public hearing grabbed the attention of about 60 people from the Sleepy Eye area.

Those who testified opposed Eckstein's proposed hog farm mostly because of the anticipated smell. Several arguments were presented as to how that smell could adversely affect businesses, real estate, economic development, schools and hospitals in and around Sleepy Eye.

Brown County Extension Educator Wayne Schoper told the crowd that he was simply presenting information to the commission.

Schoper outlined a system developed by researchers at the University of Minnesota that helps estimate odors from feedlots. He said odor emissions are calculated based upon all the odor sources on the farm site, their odor emission numbers, the areas of the odor sources and any odor control factors and then multiplied by 10,000. The total odor emission factor for Eckstein's proposal was 263.5.

Schoper plotted that number against the separation distance on a graph and determined that the proposed operation would be 97 percent annoyance-free. He also estimated that the city would only have the odor for 11 days out of the year, mostly in warm weather.

"What I like about this facility is that it faces a northwest direction," Schoper said. "The prevailing winds are southwest and northeast from Sleepy Eye."

Sleepy Eye resident Jim Larson later questioned Schoper.

"I live on the southwest corner of the lake, and the wind comes from the northwest," Larson said.

"I don't doubt it, " Schoper replied.

Commission Chair Leo Wilfahrt, of New Ulm, pointed out that while the smell might not be an annoyance 99 percent of the time, it would still have an odor.

Commissioner Loren Renberg, of Bashaw Township, added that everybody's tolerance for manure odor is different.

Schoper agreed, saying the figures he presented were "a kind of average."

Commissioner Andrew Lochner, who is also on the Brown County Board, asked about the effect of trees. Schoper said they can act as an absorbent and a barrier to manure odors.

But Sleepy Eye City Manager Mark Kober interjected, "This has the highest odor emission rating of any facility."

Hugh Nierengarten, who was acting as an attorney for the City of Sleepy Eye, then challenged one of Schoper's earlier statements, saying that Schoper contradicted himself when he said storing the manure in tanks would emit less odor than an open pit, while a table in Schoper's report suggested the exact opposite.

"We haven't done a lot of research on tanks," Schoper told Nierengarten, who reminded him of the contradiction and then questioned Schoper's agenda, to which Schoper replied, "My agenda is research-based information."

Wilfahrt later asked Eckstein if he would feel comfortable with having special conditions that would only allow him to spread hog manure on days when the wind was moving either south or southwest.

Eckstein replied that he would "up until November."

"Did you look at how this would affect people?," questioned Renberg to Eckstein. "Did you take that into consideration?"

"Yes," Eckstein replied.

"Was that not a point that affected your decision?," Renberg asked.

"Yes, but I feel the issue is somewhat overrated," Eckstein replied.

Nierengarten gave commissioners a 12-page document outlining Sleepy Eye's three-pronged argument against the proposed hog operation. He argued on the finer points of several different state and county ordinances.

He later criticized Eckstein's plan, saying it was "incomplete, inaccurate and possibly deceptive."

"The citizens of Sleepy Eye do not quarrel with animal agriculture," Nierengarten said. "But this application is a significant and direct threat to 3,500 people in an urban area."

Nierengarten said that Eckstein had shaved one animal unit off the application to duck a state requirement that says any application for 1,000 animals or more has to have an air emission plan included with the application. He pointed to several details of the plan that were not provided, including architectural plans and soil information, and said the plan doesn't comply with the requirements of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

Nierengarten also argued that the county shouldn't grant the application because it would have interfered with a 2-mile subdivision expansion that Sleepy Eye was in the process of completing. He cited five sections in the county's zoning ordinances that say the proposed hog operation has to be compatible with existing zoning ordinances and can't adversely affect nearby property.

More importantly, argued Nierengarten, the operation would affect Sleepy Eye Lake, one of only two recreational lakes in Brown County, which attracts tourism dollars to Sleepy Eye. The smell could also influence people looking at Sleepy Eye as a place to live or have a business.

Charles Hanson, chairman of the board at Sleepy Eye Municipal Hospital, said that the hospital's surgical suite requires outside air, which would be contaminated by the odor if the permit were approved.

Kober said, "The burden is ours to show here because it directly affects the quality of life in Sleepy Eye. Swine production feeds the community, but there's lots of space outside of town that wouldn't affect the quality of life."

Commissioners Lochner, Renberg and Anita Mohr seemed to favor delaying a vote on Eckstein's request. But, County Attorney James Olson and Planning and Zoning Director Jane Starz then pointed that board action must be taken within 60 days of the request or the request would be automatically granted according to state law.

In response, Commissioner Brian Tohal, director of the New Ulm Economic Development Corporation, strongly voiced his objections to the request.

"I have a different view," Tohal said. "We have clear information that this creates an excessive burden on public facilities. It is incompatible to the surrounding residences and it will have an adverse effect on nearby landowners."

Tohal made the motion to deny the request. Renberg seconded the motion. The commission returned a unanimous vote shortly afterward.