By Mike Perleberg (Franklin County, Ind.) - A facility housing nearly 5,000 hogs has been approved near Brookville Lake in Franklin County. A zone change necessary for the establishment of the confined animal feeding operation, or CAFO, was approved Wednesday, March 14 by the Franklin County Board of Zoning Appeals, according to The Franklin County Observer newsletter. The 3-1 vote overruled a vote by the Franklin County Area Plan Commission earlier that same evening to deny the zone change. Last December, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management gave approval to the CAFO. The 102-acre site at Powell and Bath roads in Fairfield Township is owned by Scott and Susan Cooper, of Liberty. After receiving the IDEM permit, the couple resubmitted to the Franklin County Area Plan Commission for the zone change from residential to agricultural. Dozens of area residents showed up to last week’s public hearing in order to voice their opposition to the CAFO. Their concerns included neighbors’ health, odors, property values, and potential pollution to Brookville Lake, which is only about one mile away. The Observer reported that more than 800 people live within 1.5 miles of the site. RELATED STORIES: Report: Proposed Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation Near Brookville Lake Gets IDEM Approval Public Hearing Tackles Factory Farms Change In Approach To Fighting Indiana Factory-Farm Pollution
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