Turkey farms cause flap in nearby communities
In 1994, turkey producers were looking to expand in Lancaster County.
A large number of residents
fearing odors
and declining property values
turned out at
council meetings to oppose 32 applications for turkey farms. A typical
turkey farm generates thousands of pounds of waste.
The ensuing controversy led the county to pass an ordinance limiting
the location of turkey farms to parcels of land of at least 75 acres,
located 100 feet from a water supply and 1,320 feet from residences.
Lancaster County Administrator Chappel Hurst introduced the ordinance when
he learned that DHEC had never turned down an application for a turkey
farm, sometimes ignoring its own guidelines in siting turkey farms.
Hurst explained that established turkey farmers were not a problem
because they had farmed for years and had large enough tracts of land to
dispose of the manure. "The problems developed because people bought 20
acres of land and wanted to start a poultry operation," he said. "We had
one case where someone wanted to put a farm on seven acres of land. You
can't let one type of industry destroy everything around it."
Numerous studies have documented the harmful effects of poultry waste
to watersheds. Arkansas and Virginia waterways both suffered large fish
kills in recent years from algae blooms caused by nitrification from the
poultry industry.
Passage of the county ordinance helped spawn the poultry industry's
Right to Farm Bill, originally intended to limit a county's authority over
the location of large livestock operations. The bill was heavily amended
by Sen. Phil Leventis (D-Sumter) and, in its current form, regulates only
hog farms. Heavy lobbying by the Farm Bureau and Poultry Federation left
the poultry industry unaffected by the bill.
In March 1995, one month after Lancaster passed its ordinance, a
Circle S ad appeared in the Chester News and Observer seeking
turkey growers. As in Lancaster, citizens voiced concerns over the turkey
barns locating close to residences.
Council member Tom Funderburk introduced an ordinance similar to
Chester County's, but this time the tables were turned. The poultry
industry brought in supporters, including experts from Clemson University,
and soundly defeated the ordinance.
Chester County resident Bruce Collins built his turkey barn in
violation of DHEC's guidelines. He is being fought in court by the
Edgemore Community Action Association.
Environmental lawyer Bob Guild is representing the group. He points
out the heavy environmental toll states like Arkansas have sustained at
the hands of the poultry industry.
"According to DHEC's own files," he said, "seven of nine Chester
Country watersheds have already been impacted by agricultural runoff. DHEC
says they must find the source of this pollution in order to deal with it,
but at the same time they are issuing permits willy-nilly to apply the
waste to farm land."
