Linn County has enacted new rules on confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) that will make it harder for large-scale projects to receive approval.
The county board of supervisors voted unanimously on Dec. 12 in Albany that a one-mile setback must be provided between such operations and surrounding properties.
Linn County took up the issue because of the controversy over three proposed large-scale chicken ranches in the Stayton-Jefferson-Scio area. The regulations apply only to new, large CAFO permit applications and are not retroactive.
The public hearing began with a motion for a 3/4-mile setback but that motion failed. A later motion by Commissioner Sherrie Sprenger for one mile passed unanimously.
Key issues for those opposing the large-scale operations are protection of drinking water and local rivers, odors, ammonia emissions and the proximity of the proposed facilities to a school and a church. Several community members spoke in favor of the setback rules during the public hearing and, according to the county Planning and Building Department, all of the correspondence the county received on the topic backed the new setbacks. Many of the CAFO opponents are affiliated with the group Farmers Against Foster Farms, which has expressed strong opposition to proposals for new operations from their inception.
“Our county commissioners listened, they heard you, and they acted unanimously to protect our farms and homes from these kinds of threats in the future,” the group wrote in a statement. “This is a very big deal for our county.”
The fight isn’t over, however. Although the owners of two of the properties that had sought permission to install a chicken ranch have been sold. One chicken-raising facility, J-S Ranch, received its permits before the Linn County action. The county move was preceded by Senate Bill 85, which restricted groundwater use by CAFOs, increased oversight on waste issues and allowed for setbacks to be enforced.
The Farmers Against Foster Farms statement noted that the group is in active litigation against the state for issuing a permit to the J-S Ranch facility. The trial is scheduled for Feb. 5-9.
“If we win, the permit will likely be remanded at that time. We expect that this would require the state to start over with the permitting process for J-S Ranch and as a result the operation would have to comply with all of the new rules that have since gone into effect.”
Meanwhile, the new Linn County setback rules already are receiving blowback. At the supervisors’ Dec. 19 meeting Dave Dillon of the advocacy group Food Northwest appeared, as well as others expressing concerns with the one-mile setbacks.
Although the focus of the setback debate was proposed for large-scale chicken CAFOs, the land use change would include all confined animal operations including beef, dairy, sheep etc. Dillon said he didn’t believe the county did enough outreach to bring more agricultural groups to the table.
Commissioners responded that the process has been talked about in public meetings for about two years and that the agenda for meetings is publicized. Commissioner Sprenger said she did not receive a single email opposing the county’s plan.
It was unclear at presstime if the commissioners intended to reconsider the approval of the one-mile setback.
