Cooper County health board won’t pursue CAFO ordinance

The Cooper County health board has decided not to pursue an ordinance placing restrictions on concentrated animal-feeding operations.

Board members said they did not want to pass an ordinance for a problem that, at the moment, appeared based on speculation.

Minnesota-based Pipestone System wants to build a CAFO on 25 acres in southern Cooper County, off Renshaw Drive. The operation would bring more than 7,000 pigs, sows and gilts to the area, and manure created would be used as fertilizer for nearby landowners.

Health director Melanie Hutton withdrew her recommendation for a moratorium on CAFOs after realizing there was another hog operation of a similar classification to the one Pipestone System was proposing. She said she did not want to make it seem the county was targeting certain farms.

Western District Commissioner David Booker said advice from legal counsel dictated their decision not to pursue a health ordinance.

“The Cooper County Commission recognizes that agriculture is the economic engine that drivese Cooper County,” Booker said. “And as such, the commission sought and received [Missouri Farmers Care] Agri-Ready status for our county. There are currently rules and regulations governing confined animal feeding operations.”

Opponents of the CAFO said a health ordinance would have given nearby landowners protection from the spread of manure. Fred Williams said the local rules would help keep the area clean.

“We don’t want to have hog manure right against our fence lines, where our wells are, or come onto our property where our kids are,” Williams said.

The Department of Natural Resources already has rules for farms on managing manure, said Don Nikodim, director of the Missouri Pork Association. Regulators will make sure that the facility won’t pollute streams or wells and will take action if any manure spills occur.

“This group comes in and goes through the process of engineering facilities to meet those requirements,” Nikodim said. “And I think from that standpoint, people can feel pretty comfortable about where this facility is going and how it will operate.”

Williams said the DNR acts reactively to things like manure spills or water pollution, rather than proactively to stop it. By panning on a health ordinance, the county commission was behaving the same way, he said.

“So, once people start getting sick, if that happens, Heaven forbid, then they’re going to do something,” Williams said.

The DNR still needs to approve the application for Tipton East before it can build.