By STAN MADDUX

Indiana Correspondent

PERU, Ind. — The door appears wide open for housing more than 9,000 wean-to-finish hogs at a site near Peru.

Michael Priest, a loan specialist with USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), said his office last Thursday approved an application for a loan from Boss Hog Barn LLC. He said issuance of the loan came after FSA completed its review of the project once all other necessary approvals were granted by Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM).

Boss Hog Barn, out of Converse, plans to construct a barn housing up to 4,620 hogs in the area of county roads 700 East and 800 South under a permit application IDEM approved Oct. 30, 2018. According to the permit application, manure would be stored for up to one year in a belowground, mechanically ventilated concrete facility.

The manure would go on area fields, with injection among the application methods to eliminate potential runoff and odor.

The barn would be adjacent to a confined animal feeding operation (CAFO) containing another 4,620 hogs proposed by Brian Troyer, owner and operator of Snowhill Ridge LLC, according to IDEM documentation. Troyer also received IDEM approval of his plans on Oct. 30.

A great deal of opposition has been expressed by residents worried about property values, groundwater contamination, odor, and impact on Mississinewa Reservoir, Mississinewa Lake, and other natural resources within a few miles of the CAFO site.

“It’s just not being placed in a good location,” said Margo Tucker, with the Indianapolis-based Citizens Action Coalition, who represented citizens in their bid to stop the project.

She said a CAFO should not go there because of what the natural resources, already a contributor to the local economy, could mean later to a community with plans to add walking trails and other related amenities to impart value to its assets.

“We think this CAFO siting just completely goes against the county’s comprehensive plan and the direction they want to take the county in,” she said.

Tucker said efforts to stop the project were made almost entirely at the state level because of an existing county zoning ordinance lacking “teeth” to wage much of a pushback locally.

IDEM spokesman Barry Sneed said approval of permit applications by the agency can be appealed within 18 days after a decision, but the time for doing so in this case has long expired. Seeing little hope, Tucker said it might be best now to switch focus on getting local zoning laws strengthened to discourage any other new CAFO plans.

“We’re not saying that CAFOs like this should be denied in every instance. What we’re saying is, let’s give the community and the county a chance to analyze that proposal and decide, rather than people at the state and federal level giving the green light and the locals not having a say,” she said.

“Even if we have lost this battle, we can win the war.”