MURDOCK -- A newly formed citizens' group in Swift County took its first step Monday toward opposing the development of the state's largest dairy in the county.
Swift County Citizens for Responsible Growth filed a complaint against the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency in District Court in Swift County. The complaint charges that the MPCA Citizens' Board ignored the input of area residents when it decided Oct. 25 not to require an environmental impact statement for the East Dublin Dairy.
The suit asks that the more comprehensive review conducted in an environmental impact statement be required. An environmental assessment worksheet -- a screening tool used in part to determine whether a more in-depth study of environmental impact is needed -- has already been completed by the dairy. The complaint will be referred to the state's attorney general's office, according to Kevin Kain, project manager with the MPCA.
East Dublin Dairy is seeking to develop a 6,600-head dairy feedlot in Dublin Township in Swift County. It would be the largest dairy feedlot in the state, although the MPCA is also considering a request by a group interested in building a 14,000-head dairy in Traverse County.
"Too big, too close,'' said Pete Kennedy of Murdock, a member of the Swift County citizens' group.
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He said the large feedlot's location puts it just over two miles from the communities of Murdock and Kerkhoven. He said citizens are concerned about adverse impacts from odors and manure, and the water demands of the operation. The dairy would be located within three miles of wells that supply water to Murdock and Kerkhoven. The dairy is seeking a state Department of Natural Resources permit to use 93.5 million gallons of water annually, although in its application the dairy states that it would actually use 76.8 million gallons per year.
The water appropriation request represents a demand for nearly double the 42 to 48 million gallons of water used each year by the two communities combined, according to a news release issued by the Swift County citizens' group.
Kennedy also pointed out that the waste created by the dairy would be roughly equivalent to the waste produced by a city of 88,000 residents. The animal waste would be stored in a 53 million-gallon open pit that will rely on a crust-forming method of odor control. The Swift County citizens call the method "antiquated and insufficient.''
Kennedy said the citizens' group includes family dairy and other crop and livestock farmers in the county, as well as residents of Murdock and Kerkhoven. Along with environmental concerns, the group believes that the dairy will harm the local economy.
The large feedlot will drive down land prices in the countryside and depress housing markets in the two rural communities, according to Kennedy. "Who is going to want to buy or build a house in a city where there is 6,600 cows only two miles south?'' he said.
The group intends to both challenge the permitting process for East Dublin Dairy and work for change through action by the Swift County Board of Commissioners, according to Kennedy. He charged that the county's current feedlot ordinance does not reflect the interests of most residents in the county.
The dairy must yet obtain a conditional use permit in Swift County. According to information provided the MPCA, the project calls for constructing three large free-stall barns, a milking parlor, special needs barn and an earthen basin on a 120-acre farm site. The operation would milk 5,280 cows twice daily and also house 820 dry cows and 500 heifers.
