LITCHFIELD -- A group has notified Meeker County that it is appealing the board's decision to not require an environmental impact statement for a proposed feedlot expansion.
Friends of Lake Minnie Belle, a group of 23 landowners, submitted a summons and complaint last week to the Meeker County auditor and Dan Fitterer, who is proposing the expansion.
Fitterer wants to expand his dairy feedlot from 40 cows to 160. His feedlot is about 300 feet from the ordinary high water level of Lake Minnie Belle, which is south of Litchfield in Greenleaf Township.
Last year, citizens had petitioned for an environmental assessment worksheet on the project, which the county requested of Fitterer. After a comment period on the worksheet, the County Board decided 4-1 on Jan. 3 that an environmental impact statement was not necessary for the project.
An environmental impact statement is an in-depth study of specific environmental issues that can take a year to complete. The environmental assessment worksheet is a screening tool used to detect a project's potential environmental effects.
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There was a 30-day period to appeal the board's decision. The appeal has not been filed with Meeker County District Court, but the group's notification to the county preserves its right to file the appeal at a later date, Meeker County Attorney Stephanie Beckman said.
The group's attorney, Jim Peters, said the group wants to wait until a decision is made on the feedlot's conditional use permit before filing the appeal. If the permit is not approved, the group would drop the appeal, he said.
The Meeker County Planning Commission was scheduled to discuss Fitterer's conditional use permit Tuesday night, but were not expected to make a recommendation on it, according to the county planning and zoning office.
In the appeal, the group is requesting a judgment that the project has potential for significant environmental effects and that the county be ordered to require an environmental impact statement for the project. The group is concerned about water quality, odor and property values if the feedlot expands.
Fitterer said the environmental assessment worksheet showed that the expansion is not going to cause the effects its opponents think it will.
"I don't understand why they can't accept the county's decision," Fitterer said.
