To the editor,
The Raccoon River Valley Bike Trail, which runs through Greene, Guthrie, Dallas counties and on to Des Moines, has been nominated for the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s Hall of Fame and has been an undeniable asset to our community for over 30 years.
The DNR’s North Raccoon Water Trail has nine access points in Greene County with Squirrel Hollow and Adkins Bridge right here in Franklin Township. Last week, 300 people with Project Aware put in at Squirrel Hollow Park access to clean up our River.
Unfortunately, Seaboard Foods, the second largest hog producer in the U.S., doesn’t seem to care. The multi-billion dollar integrator has recently contracted to build a 4,800 head swine nursery 1.5 miles from the Raccoon River Valley Trail on the west and 1.1 miles from the Raccoon River to the east. 28,800 pigs will move through the operation at 1721 290th street in Franklin Township each year.
The hogs will bring a variety of risks with them – odors, noise, disease, increased semi-truck traffic on gravel roads in our neighborhood and over the Trail. Add the threat of polluting our groundwater; open creeks north and south of the site flowing to the river; and anticipated manure applications on 300 acres drained by tile and those creeks. The threat of that flow to the already-endangered Raccoon River corridor, a scant mile away, cannot be understated.
While we cannot reproach a farmer trying to make a living, we can question his judgment in placing this huge investment 30 miles from his own house and barging into a neighborhood with an unwanted pig barn. We can rail against out-of-state landowners who do not know or see what’s happening here. We can question the laws of the State of Iowa that DO NOT require a building permit, a manure management plan, or even a hearing for this size and type of facility. And we can and should be outraged by an out-of-state, multibillion dollar corporation for their role in devising a system of agriculture that tramples on our communities, undermines our farmers, and devastates our environment.
Greene County is more than Seaboard’s cash sow and a farmer’s mortgage lifter. We should not have to sacrifice our homes, our quality of life or our resources, so they can keep living high on the hog.
WE LIVE HERE! We own property here! We Care!
Franklin & Grant Township Neighbors
Scott and Jenn Weaver, Chris Henning, Travis Winger, Justin Alliss, David Clifton, Alan Betts, Derek and Lana Teeples
