By Derek Spellman
dspellman@joplinglobe.com
NEOSHO, Mo. — A hearing originally scheduled for Wednesday on some Newton County residents’ appeal of state permits issued for the expansion of an egg-production operation near Neosho was postponed after some of the residents were not properly notified of the hearing, officials said.
Earlier this year, the state’s Administrative Hearing Commission recommended that the state approve, with some modifications, the permit that the Department of Natural Resources issued to Moark Productions Inc. in 2005. The state Clean Water Commission was set to review that recommendation Wednesday and determine whether to affirm, deny or modify it.
The hearing will be rescheduled for a future commission meeting because the DNR inadvertently failed to notify all of the residents appealing the permit, said Sarah Garoutte, a public information specialist for the DNR’s water protection program. The omission stemmed from a clerical mistake, she said.
“We wanted to give everyone ample opportunity to appear before the commission,” Garoutte said.
The Clean Water Commission is expected to set a new date for the hearing on Wednesday.
Six Newton County residents, most of whom live on or own property within several miles of the Moark plant near Crowder College, petitioned the state in late 2005 to rescind the permit. The petitioners are Rick Bussey, Dave Boyt, Peter Boyt, James “Robert” Carter Jr., Richard Betz and the late Leroy Van Otterloo.
Peter Boyt said he received notice of the Wednesday hearing via mail one to two weeks ago. Christine Betz, the wife of Richard Betz, said her husband received written notice about a week ago. Peter Boyt and Christine Betz said they heard that Van Otterloo’s widow also received notice.
But Bussey said he had not received any notice and was not aware of the Wednesday hearing until a few days ago, when some of the other petitioners told him. Bussey said neither Carter nor David Boyt received notice either.
Bussey said he contacted the state to see if the hearing could be postponed.
“(With) the short notice, there is no way we can state our case,” he said.
The permit that the DNR granted in 2005 allowed for an expansion of the Moark operation from 1.3 million chickens to 3.9 million.
The six petitioners, collectively known as Southwest Missouri Citizens Against Local Moark Expansion, challenged that permit as it pertained to water quality, and alleged that the operation is a source of odor pollution that has diminished the quality of life for residents in the area and lowered their property values.
The Administrative Hearing Commission conducted a half-dozen hearings on the appeal in the fall of 2006 before recommending on Feb. 19, 2008, that the state grant the permit with two modifications:
n Eliminate stipulations pertaining to air quality.
n Order the DNR to inspect the Moark plant and determine the potential for accidental wastewater discharge into neighboring waterways.
Both the petitioners and the DNR had argued that stipulations regarding Moark’s compliance with air-quality regulations could be attached as conditions of the water-quality permit.
The Administrative Hearing Commission rejected that argument on the basis that the Clean Water Commission has no jurisdiction over air-quality issues.
Bussey, who lives within a mile of the Moark plant’s southern edge, acknowledged that air-quality issues likely would have to be addressed through the state Legislature.
“They just need to get stricter regulations,” he said.
Air and water
“The Air Conservation Commission holds the sole statutory duty to make air-quality standards and hear appeals from alleged violations of those standards. No statute permits DNR to shift that duty to the (Clean Water Commission). The reason is plain. To delegate decisions on air quality to the CWC would assign policy-based decisions to an agency with no expertise in such policy.”
Source: Administrative Hearing Commission in its Feb. 19 recommendation on the Moark permit appeal
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