By Carla Knapp, Pharos-Tribune
Walter and Eva Keller are repulsed by the idea that, within months, the view from their front window could be three manure lagoons at a mega-dairy across the street.
"We'll see a lot of cows and a lot of crap," said Eva Keller, who has lived with her husband on their farm in northern Carroll County for more than 52 years.
The Kellers and other area residents are trying to keep the farm proposed by Vreba-Hoff Dairy Development LLC from coming in and disrupting their lives. Still others, however, are looking forward to the new neighbors and a potential boost in the agricultural economy in the area.
"Right now things are in order for a nice-sized dairy," said Daryl Smith, an economic developer in Carroll County who has worked on the project with Vreba-Hoff.
Since it was established in 1997, the Dutch-based company has been helping European dairy farmers move to the United States and it has helped to bring 19 such farms to Indiana.
The company's facilities are known as concentrated animal feeding operations, which can house cows by the thousands in a fraction of the space needed for traditional dairy farms.
The first farm in Carroll County, Boerman Carroll Dairy near Cutler, which will have up to 4,100 head, has already made it through the permitting process and is scheduled to break ground soon. It's the same for one in Cass County, Far Hills Dairy near Royal Center, which will have 3,200 head.
However, this most recent facility, Optima Dairy Farm, is still in the planning stages and some area residents are battling to keep it from becoming a reality.
Vreba-Hoff has filed its proposal with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, and the permits are now in a 30-day comment period that is set to close on Nov. 4.
Vreba-Hoff and IDEM have had a rocky relationship ever since the company's facilities began showing up in Indiana in the late 1990s.
Over the years, IDEM has cited CAFOs built by Vreba-Hoff, which operates stateside from Ohio, for violations in Randolph, Henry, Grant and Madison counties. Rarely, however, has Vreba-Hoff actually been named as part of these violations.
Though the company helps to bring these farms over from Europe, most often it then hands off ownership to families.
"They're comparable to a construction company that will build the dairy to the specs of the owner, and then the owner would be responsible," said Smith. "They've been very agreeable and willing to work with us and I think they will be a good neighbor in working with those in the area."
If the plans for the Optima Dairy Farm go through, the 2,000-head operation at 1000N and 300E will be owned by Koem Ally from Belgium.
The connections between the Vreba-Hoff and the private owners have put the company under the microscope more than once. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this year listed Vreba-Hoff as part of an action against the De Jong Dairy in Fremont for unauthorized discharges. The company was later able to prove, however, that it had transferred ownership of the property and the EPA dropped its name from the order.
The company does maintain ownership of a small percentage of the farms it builds, and in some cases Vreba-Hoff wasn't able to avoid the legal problems. IDEM found the company in violation of environmental statutes for a farm in Huntington County in 2002 and another in Randolph County in 2004.
The company has had bigger problems elsewhere. In January, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality filed a contempt-of-court charge against Vreba-Hoff, claiming it failed to follow the terms of a December 2004 ruling for managing cow manure. In June, the company was fined $180,000 and ordered to install new wastewater treatment equipment and to limit the herd size on two CAFOs.
After the judgment, Vreba-Hoff issued a statement saying the violations were brought on mostly by excessive rains and that it would deal promptly with the problems.
Despite the Michigan judgment and the other IDEM violations, Smith said he was comfortable with the company locating dairies in Carroll County
"IDEM's job is to look after health and safety, and they are thorough in reviewing the plans and making sure they meet environmental guidelines," said Smith. "If there is an owner who has some problems, as there have been, that owner is brought to task. All of us want a clean environment and following IDEM regulations will do that. The dairies we have in the process are built at or above IDEM specs."
According to the plans Vreba-Hoff has filed with IDEM, it will use three manure lagoons to treat waste from the Optima Dairy.
Following treatment, manure will be spread on adjacent properties in accordance with agreements the company has signed with local residents.
According to the Vreba-Hoff's Web site, all of the plans it has filed with IDEM use standard waste treatment practices and are at or above all environmental codes.
Even so, many Carroll County residents are still concerned.
"I don't like this at all," said Eva Keller. "We don't have air conditioning, and in the summer time when it gets in the 90s, we won't be able to go outside and we won't be able to open our windows. ... I'm worried about what it's going to do to our soil and to our water."
Many of the concerns deal with the dairy's proximity to the Wabash River.
The proposed location for Optima Dairy is in a watershed known as Sprinkle Ditch and is roughly two miles from Rock Creek.
"My concern is contamination of the water and the future of the environment," said Lisa Henry, the Kellers' daughter who has been campaigning against the dairy on behalf of her parents and many of the other residents she says have been kept mostly in the dark about the company's plans.
"I've been out there advocating against it," she said. "I've been talking to these people, a lot of them are in their 60s and 70s, and they're not well informed. ... But the ones who know about it are not happy about it."