Opponents of the Ozbun Farms poultry CAFO near Roaring River State Park will seek a stay of the farm’s operating permit today without benefit of legal counsel.
Rodney and Michelle Ozbun, owners of the confined-animal feeding operation that will house up to 65,600 pullets for the George’s Processing plant near Cassville, have retained a lawyer in the firm of Schreimann, Rackers, Francka & Blunt in Jefferson City to represent them.
The Ozbuns will not be represented by Andrew Blunt, the older brother of Gov. Matt Blunt, but by Michael Schmid, an attorney in the firm. Schmid could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Opponents of the CAFO are seeking a stay of the operating permit, which was issued to the Ozbuns on Aug. 22. The opponents will testify before the Missouri Administrative Hearing Commission during a hearing that starts at 9 a.m. today in the Harry Truman Building in Jefferson City.
The opponents will represent themselves. They are Mark Stephenson, a Joplin resident who has a family farm near the CAFO, and Beverly Sweeney, and Jim and Sharon Riedel, who live near the CAFO in Barry County.
