[Imc-newsroom] Bellflower Dairy Given OK

[Sehvilla]

Bellflower mega-dairy given OK 

 
     By TIM MITCHELL
 2001 THE NEWS-GAZETTE
Published Online September 12, 2001


 
   BELLFLOWER  State agriculture officials have approved a mega-dairy farm
to be built near Bellflower.
   With plans for 6,000 head of livestock, the operation would be the
largest of its kind in Illinois.
   But opponents of the Stone Ridge Dairy project vowed to keep on
fighting, sending a petition to Gov. George Ryan and considering new legal
action.
   The Illinois Department of Agriculture on Tuesday approved an
application by developer George Kasbergen of Mira Loma, Calif., to build
the Stone Ridge Dairy.
   Since the proposal already has the approval of the McLean County Board,
Kasbergen is free to begin construction after he submits a waste
management plan, said John Herath, Illinois Department of Agriculture.
   The Champaign County Board and several area municipalities have voted
to oppose Kasbergen's proposal.
   Herath said Kasbergen must start construction before Oct. 17 to avoid
having to submit a new application.
   The Illinois Department of Agriculture's decision comes just two weeks
after the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources cited another
mega-dairy farm Kasbergen owns, Spring Grove Dairy in Brodhead, Wis., for
10 water pollution violations.
   "The 10 violations show clearly that not only is Spring Grove poorly
managed, but that the operator, Mr. Kasbergen, has no respect for the laws
of Wisconsin," said Don Rolla of rural Mahomet, an opponent of the
proposal.
   But according to Warren Goetsch, bureau chief for the Illinois
Department of Agriculture, the situation at Brodhead had little effect on
the Bellflower application because pollution standards differ between
Wisconsin and Illinois.
   Meanwhile members of the Quad County Clean Air and Water Coalition,
which opposes the mega-dairy farm, sent Ryan a petition signed by 1,085
residents asking him to intervene in the situation.
   Coalition member Dave Adamson of Bellflower said he was disappointed
with the Illinois Department of Agriculture's decision.
   "This goes to show you how weak Illinois' Livestock Management
Facilities Act is and how people can whittle their way around it," said
Adamson.
   Adamson said the coalition is considering asking the courts to stop
construction of the mega-dairy farm.
   The coalition is concerned about how waste from the cattle will be
treated and the effects of that waste on people living nearby and
downstream from the farm.
   Adamson said leakage from the lagoon could spread into old wells in the
area and then into the Mahomet Aquifer, which provides drinking water for
many communities in Champaign County, including Champaign-Urbana.
   Plans call for the complex to include two or more quarter-mile-long
barns to house the cattle, calving pens, a milking parlor and holding pen,
and a proposed 19-acre lagoon to treat waste. 
   Kasbergen said his facility would hold 5,922 adult cattle and 180
calves, for a total of 6,102 head of livestock on site.
   The operation is also expected to create about 40 jobs.

 



Sehvilla - anlyzstrlz at advancenet.net