The Greene County supervisors will review a master matrix next Monday for an expansion at Greene County Pigs LLC, an existing confined animal feeding operation (CAFO) in Franklin Township, Section 5.
Eric Chrystal of Jefferson plans to add a second confinement building to the north of his existing building. The new building will have a capacity of 2,499 head, the same as the current building. The county has no involvement in the permitting process for buildings with less capacity than 2,500 head, so the first building was erected without submitting a master matrix and holding a public hearing. The addition of the second building puts the operation over the threshold for a Department of Natural Resources construction permit.
A public hearing will be held March 28 at 9 am at the board of supervisors’ meeting. Per the Code of Iowa, if the master matrix meets the minimum of 440 points required, the supervisors have no power to keep the DNR from issuing the permit.
