Resources to deal with hog confinement building coming in next door?

[Big_K]

Just talked to a friend of mine in the Dakotas -- elderly woman with several medical issues -- and she told me a huge hog confinement "farm" is going in very near her house. She's been to meetings, etc., but it sounds like a done deal with probably a few shenanigans going on (since it was presented to her and her neighbors as a "done deal&quot . She said it was "kinda like the pipeline."

I was just wondering if anyone knew of any resources that might be able to fight this. Because of her health (the pig odors literally can make her pass out), she will have to move and possibly quit her job. And a Realtor has already told her she's not going to get a decent price for her house, because who really wants to move in next to a hog farm??

Thanks for any help!

[snooper2]

1. you might want to start by contacting the corporate offices of Febreze

[TheBlackAdder]

6. Thar be dozens of neurotoxins and carcinogens in that shit. That's why you can't smell anything.

[Weekend Warrior]

2. Contact the ACLU if she has any documentation or direct concerns of "shenanigans.

If her rights are being infringed upon, which is the case if regulations are being curtailed or ignored and she is being personally impacted, they might be willing to look into it. Contact the state AG with the same information. Post said information publicly. Rally others in the community or look for others already building opposition.

It's already pretty late in the game if construction has started. I would also ask her about her health issue as most people are going to scoff at the "pass out" line. That needs to be addressed but with different verbiage.

If nothing can stop it, it's then time for her to talk to the corporation directly. Discuss the loss in value to her property and possibly making up the shortfall after its sale.

[roody]

3. She is so screwed.

We are fighting hard in Iowa against this shit: see Iowa citizens for community improvement. Corporate ag is king. She needs to start with County supervisors.

[Louis1895]

4. Law and Odor: How to Take Down a Terrible-Smelling Hog Farm

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/05/terrible-smell-hog-farms-lawsuits/

[MuseRider]

5. OMG

We have thought about the vacant land around our place that people lease to pasture their cattle. We worry about that so much. Enough that we planned with our neighbors that if anyone wanted to buy that land and build a housing area we were going to put up a great big sign on our place that said "FUTURE HOME OF **** HOG FARM". THAT is how bad this could be, it would be enough to stop anyone from building homes.

Her realtor is correct. It may be too late. They do not care what they do to anyone living around them. We got a lovely Frito Lay plant with open vats that smell like horrible diarrhea mixed with the lovely smells (not at the level and length of time we are stuck with the smells) of our new Mars plant. It is insufferable outside some days. Not fun to have to work in them, I often have to wear a mask just so it does not make me sick.

Ya move to the farm expecting quiet and fresh air. HA!

Every resource I was given and my neighbors were given to fight it off were of no use to us. I do know a community here in Kansas just fought off a Tyson plant. If I can find something I will post it here. It was a mighty fight from a small group of people.

[MuseRider]

7. You could start here and see if it guides you.

They were lucky, Erin Brockovich is from KC and she helped them out. http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article171977397.html

[Achilleaze]

8. Factory meat is what you eat

...unless you are supporting local, or artisanal farmers and butchers.

Animals nowadays are raised in massive factories, often tended by migrant workers. The animal manure is collected in huge rank toxic "lagoons," and then the critters are shipped off to industrial slaughter-processing-packing factories to be reckoned with - over and over and over repetitively, numbingly - by migrant workers.

It's truly something to behold, something to contemplate.

I'm sorry to hear of the plight your friend in ND is facing, Big-K, and I hope she will find the right and effective resources to keep her home in safe and beautiful way.