While Daniel R. Schuette’s article (Globe, Feb. 24) was polite, seemingly understanding, and almost conciliatory, it failed to address or glossed over some important issues.
When was the Department of Natural Resources put in charge of protecting our state’s economy? The word economy does not appear in their mission statement. They are charged to protect Missouri’s land, air and water resources and work to “preserve the state’s historic and natural heritage through state parks and historic sites.”
Somewhere along the line, this job has taken a back seat in the rush to build as many concentrated animal-feeding operations as our state will hold, including the one that has caused the recent ruckus — next door to Roaring River State Park. That’s the same park our DNR is pledged to protect.
Mr. Schuette expresses admiration for this “tremendous resource” and states the DNR has done “everything under the law to protect the water quality at Roaring River.” He further explains that these chicken barns (his words, not mine) are completely under roof, away from storm water, and “it would be a violation of the permit if the operators stockpiled tons of litter unprotected on site.” What he failed to mention is that is exactly what is allowed to happen according to the DNR’s own Best Management Practices, a how-to manual they furnish CAFO operators. Up to 386,000 tons of litter is allowed to be put on the ground, waiting to be hauled away, for up to two weeks when the barns are cleaned out in March or April. This information was gleaned at a hearing in Jefferson City. We would never have known about it had we not researched the manual.
We were stopped by opposing lawyers from pointing out that March and April is the spring rainy season in Missouri because none of us was a meteorologist! Does anyone living in Missouri need to be a meteorologist to know that it rains a lot in March and April?
Mr. Schuette admits that overspreading chicken litter for fertilizer can harm water quality, but explains that these owners have stated they will not apply litter on their farm (8 acres) and will arrange for the manure to be hauled away outside the Roaring River watershed. We are implying nothing, but what if this or any other operator changes his mind? As Mr. Schuette admits, our laws do not require this hauling away. Land application is outlined in complicated, mathematical equations which are submitted by mail to the DNR with no oversight involved. The DNR is understaffed, underfunded and overwhelmed by the growing number of these operations. (Footnote: Our state lawmakers are now working on a plan to give subsidies — a.k.a. our tax money — to these operations to have this litter hauled away.)
Mr. Schuette alleges (and he’s right) that a variety of sources contribute to pollution in our streams, i.e. improperly operated septic systems and runoff from development and agricultural operations, but his conclusion seems to be that since pollution is caused by the sum of all these, we should just “become active in local watershed groups.”
There are enough red flags in this scenario to turn every bull in Southwest Missouri into a raging toro. So, a group of us have decided to follow Mr. Schuette’s advice. We have formed Roaring River Parks Alliance — a non-profit organization attempting to protect our state parks and historic sites. We have paid from our own pockets in our efforts, but the cost is becoming formidable and we could use concerned citizens’ help. Contributions can be made (anonymously if you like) to: Roaring River Parks Alliance, in care of Security Bank of Southwest Missouri, P.O. Box 606, Cassville, MO 65625 — and you can go online at www.rrpa.info.com for more information.
Kaye Smith is a member of the Roaring River Parks Alliance. She lives in Pierce City.
Opinion
Guest columnist, Kaye Smith: Red flags fly around CAFOs
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