BOWLING GREEN - Neighbors of two proposed large-scale dairy farms in southern Wood County want local health and government officials to do what they can to make Wood County one tough place for the dairies to do business.
“I just think we need to find a way to do continuous monitoring because I m convinced [that] if the spotlight is on these operators, they might decide this is not a good place to do business,” said Dave Housholder, a Portage Township farmer.
Mr. Housholder and three other residents met with Wood County commissioners for more than an hour yesterday to ask the board to join them in calling for a moratorium on new, large-scale dairy farms and to help the county health department pay for regular surface-water and air-quality testing near the dairies.
Just one large-dairy operating is in Wood County now. The Manders Dairy on Range Line Road south of Weston began milking its 650 cows in June, 2002. Because it has fewer than 700 cows, the farm didn t have to obtain operating permits from the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
Two new proposed farms would require permits.
The state is now reviewing an application from the Vander Heijning family of Belgium to site a 925-head dairy farm on 158 acres it purchased last year on Cygnet Road between State Rt. 235 and Range Line Road about six miles west of Cygnet, said Deborah Abbott of the agriculture department s livestock environmental permitting program.
Cecilia Conway, spokesman for Vreba-Hoff Dairy Development of Wauseon, which aids in the siting and development of large dairies, said her company has been doing tests on a 200-acre site at Jerry City and Solether roads just west of Jerry City, where the Van Rooijen family of the Netherlands would like to establish a 1,500-head dairy farm.
“There is an option to buy the land,” she said. “We re doing a site evaluation to make sure it s suitable for development.”
Sue Torrey, who is leading the neighbors opposed to the new dairies, said about 1,000 people live within a two-mile radius of the proposed Jerry City dairy farm. The opposition group is inviting area residents to attend an informational meeting at 1 p.m. tomorrow at Jerry City s town hall.
Mrs. Torrey s concerns are similar to those voiced when the Manders Dairy was built: water and air pollution, odor, health risks, and devaluation of property.
“We just got done building our dream house, and it s just under a mile as the crow flies” from the proposed Jerry City farm, she said. “We re not just going to take a partial loss but a full loss because anyone who could afford to buy our house would not want to buy it if it s next to a dairy farm.”
She said Ohio needs a moratorium on new dairies until enough testing can be done to show what impact they have on communities, the water supply, and the environment. She also asked county commissioners if they could require the businesses to post a bond so the county has some recourse if the dairy caused environmental problems.
“What if they up and leave and we re left holding the bag?” she asked.
Commissioners agreed to take that idea to the county prosecutor and to meet with the county auditor about the issue of property devaluation that would ultimately lead to reduced tax revenues. They also agreed to discuss the issues with the county s health commissioner, although they encouraged the group to take their concerns directly to the board of health and to local state legislators.
“We hate to be the bearers of bad news,” said Commissioner Tim Brown. “The bad news is we can t stop them, but we can work together and cooperate and try to make sure there isn t an environmental disaster.”
Mr. Brown said farmers have fought hard to keep agriculture out of the realm of state regulation and local zoning. “Your lobby in this state is huge, and you basically, through this lobby, have created the situation we have today,” he said.
First Published February 27, 2004, 1:42 p.m.
