Minnesota

Another hearing on pollution risk from proposed hog farm in Harmony

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HARMONY, Minn.  Fillmore County will get one more chance to speak out on plans for a huge hog farm near Harmony.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has scheduled a Dec. 4 hearing in Mabel, Minn., on calls to require an environmental impact statement for the Catalpa Ag hog farm.

Critics of the project, who fear the risk of groundwater pollution, have written letters to the MPCA.

Just saying the feedlot isn’t wanted there won’t stop the project. Critics need to make legal arguments for or against an environmental impact statement.

Cathy Rofshus of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency says if the project is blocked, it will have to be for specific legal reasons.

“We are legally obligated, under Minnesota statute, that if a project meets all the legal requirements, we have to issue the permit,” Rofshus said. “It’s not a case of a public referendum.”

Rofshus says inspectors checked out rumors of a sinkhole at the proposed farm site, and didn’t find such a hole.

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