Neighbors voicing opposition to proximity of planned 30,000-chicken house

By Wally Kennedy

wkennedy@joplinglobe.com

WHEATON, Mo. — Poultry houses are a common sight around Wheaton, a town that would not prosper as well as it does without the poultry industry.

All of the major poultry companies — George’s, Simmons and Tyson — are doing business near this town of 721 people. The counties of Newton, McDonald and Barry meet at a point just west of Wheaton.

Then why is the construction of yet another poultry house on the north side of Wheaton causing such a headache? Why is a poultry farmer among those to oppose this new operation?

“We were here first, and they are shoving it down our throats,’’ said Lowell McInturff, who will live downwind of the 850-foot-long breeder/egg house. “We have lived here for 25 years. It’s not like we just moved here and decided to complain about someone’s chicken house.’’

His wife, Twyla, who can have severe allergic reactions to chemicals, said she cannot understand how such a large poultry house can be constructed so close to several existing farm houses.

“People will be living on nearly every side of this chicken house,’’ she said. “There are other chicken houses around here, but none are this close to us.’’

The McInturffs are not alone in their opposition to the chicken house, which they say will lower their property values and have a negative impact on their health. Their neighbors, Charles and Shirley Tichenor, Doug and Deanna Hughes, and Joseph and Tempest Cooper, also have voiced opposition to the proximity of the chicken house and have joined forces with the McInturffs.

For the Tichenors, it is especially problematic since they are poultry farmers. They are contract growers for George’s. Their broiler chicken houses were built away from their house and their neighbor’s houses “because we know how important it is to be good neighbors,” said Charles Tichenor. “We live in this community.”

Cheri Church and her husband, Wesley, are putting in the poultry house. She said, “The man (Tichenor) who is complaining the most has six poultry houses. There are so many poultry houses around here that if you were to throw a rock you could not miss a poultry house.’’

Church declined to offer any other comments about the dispute with her neighbors.

Her new poultry house will be 191 yards north of the Tichenor house, 162 yards from a house on the west side, 254 yards south of the McInturff house and 296 yards southwest of the Cooper house.

The chicken house, an $800,000 venture, is being constructed on the Churches’ farm, which they bought about two years ago. The Churches put their house up for sale several months ago, their neighbors said, but it did not sell. It was after that that they decided to build the chicken house, which will be 181 yards north of their home, the neighbors say.

The Churches approached Simmons. The company agreed to the project, though the company’s Web site says it will not construct a chicken house within 1,200 feet of an existing chicken house. An exception apparently was made for the Churches: the Tichenor chicken houses are approximately 960 feet east of the location of the new chicken house.

Kimmy Provost, spokeswoman for Simmons, said, “The 1,200 feet is a recommendation. It is up to the individual contract grower to abide by the laws of the state they are operating in.’’

In Missouri, a poultry house cannot be constructed within 100 feet of a home or a private well, according to state regulations.

Provost said she could not speak about the Churches poultry house because the opponents of the house have been in contact with an attorney.

The McInturffs and their neighbors tried to seek help but there was no one they could turn to for assistance, other than their lawyer who sent a letter to the Churches and their banker, an agricultural loan officer with First Financial Bank of Fayetteville, Ark.

The McInturffs could not get help from Barry County because it does not have zoning rules or a public health ordinance that can regulate how close a chicken house can be constructed to someone’s home.

Jim Riedel, a resident of Eagle Rock and an opponent of a 65,600-chicken CAFO that is now operating near Roaring River State Park, said Barry County offers no protection to rural residents when it comes to the placement of CAFOs.

About the opponents of the CAFO at Wheaton, Riedel said, “They have no protection whatsoever. County zoning or a county health ordinance would be the only way to save someone like that.’’

Riedel, a spokesman for the Roaring River Parks Alliance, said the property owners near Wheaton could see the values of their properties decline because of the proximity of the poultry houses to their homes. He said their health could also be impacted.

Riedel said alliance members on more than one occasion have approached the Barry County Health Board about the need for a county health ordinance to create stronger setback requirements for CAFOs. The health board, he said, was not interested.

Cherry Warren, a Barry County commissioner, said he was unaware of the controversy at Wheaton. He said no one has approached the commission about the issue there. But he also said the county could not provide relief because it does not have zoning or a county health ordinance that governs how close a CAFO can be built to a home.

Warren said, “I do know one thing: There are lot of poultry houses in that community.’’

The opponents of the chicken house tried to get help from Wheaton, the city of Wheaton having control over an area a half-mile outside of its city limits. The Churches’ poultry house will be 50 to 60 feet beyond Wheaton’s zone of influence.

Wheaton Mayor Donny Powell could not be reached for comment.

The Churches responded in a letter, dated Oct. 13, to the letter from the attorney representing the McInturffs and Tichenors. The Churches said their neighbors, whom they had not met, were attempting to interfere with their property rights. They wrote: “In the area we reside, one mile north of Wheaton, there are at least 25 to 30 poultry barns in a 5-mile radius from your clients’ home in all directions.’’

Citing the location of the Tichenor chicken houses, the Churches said, “Your clients have chosen to live in direct proximity with numerous poultry houses.’’ The Churches suggested this was a case of “do as we say and not as we do.’’

They noted they purchased their property without restrictions in an area that is agricultural. They said they would countersue for any or all losses associated with interference of construction.

The Churches noted that they would be paying taxes on their new chicken house, which when completed will cost nearly $1 million. They wrote: “Without taxpayers, such as small family farms and larger poultry companies, Wheaton and the surrounding towns would be nothing more than ghost towns. The entire area is in one manner or another touched and funded by the poultry industry.’’

The McInturffs and their neighbors are concerned about the type of poultry house that will be constructed. Chickens in a breeder-egg operation are housed for 18 to 20 weeks. A broiler operation by comparison will house birds for up to 30 or so days.

Tichenor said chickens in a breeder-egg operation produce a wet chicken litter when compared to those in a broiler house. The difference, he said, will be the odor.

“If it’s wet, it will smell,” he said. “We’re are talking about the smell of ammonia.’’

No permits needed

The planned Church poultry house will be a Class II operation with fewer than 30,000 chickens. Because of its size, permits were not needed from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to construct and operate the chicken house. There are no setback requirements for Class II CAFOs.

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