Tewksbury, MA is a suburb, approximately 20 miles north of Boston, Massachusetts. Our Total land area is 20.7 square miles with a population (as of the 2000 census)of 28,851, with a population density of 1392.3 people per square mile. Our town has two farms with hogs (there were three up until sometime in 2008-2009). One called Krochmal Farms, changed into a factory hog operation with confined hogs in 2005. They built a 10,000 square foot finisher building, for confining hogs, with a 500,000 gallon waste storage tank below. Our neighborhood is established, and all homes were here prior to 2005. This is not a case of new homeowners chasing out the poor farmer. More correctly, this is a case where neighbors were unaware of the farms expansion and increase in the number of pigs. Massachusetts State Law does not require the swine operation to hold public hearings or notify abutters of any expansions. So we didn’t know why, all of a sudden, we had to keep our window closed to keep the stench out. We called our local health department and after an investigation, they found the waste storage tank to be the primary source or our odor problem.

We all knew there was a farm operating in our neighborhood, we all enjoyed the petting zoo and hay rides each Fall. But the farm changed. Krochmal Farm industrialized and changed into a Factory Farm. The stench affects our neighboring communities of Wilmington and Andover. The change is ruining our quality of life. We can't open windows for fresh air, enjoy gatherings and celebrate family events without the threat of a nose-burning stench which send guests indoors or home. The people working at businesses in Andover sometimes cannot go outside for lunch! This website and organization would not exist if this were a normal farm odor. Read t he testimonials of the residents here.

Mass. Dept. of Agricultural Resources admits a swine operation this size is "not prevalent in Massachusetts where pig farms are generally smaller". This building can hold roughly twice as many animals as permitted for and the large fans in the "finisher building" keep the pigs from being asphyxiated and poisoned by the gases produced by the waste below them. Those gases are exhausted into the air of a suburban residential neighborhood.

We have researched swine operations in Massachusetts and are committed to protecting the basic rights of air quality and property rights. Local Boards of Health have limited powers over agricultural operations and by Mass. State Law can only shut a piggery down if it causes a public health crisis. According to Mass State Law, odors originating from agricultural operations can create as much odor as they want.

Krochmal Farms has not always followed “Best Industry Management Practices” and has not been a good neighbor to us. They have negatively impacted our lives and we fear are polluting our environment. Odors and emissions from piggeries are preventable and we don't know why the people of this area are forced to suffer when modern odor reduction measures exist. Many piggeries no longer smell; read about them here. We have to ask why the owners of this piggery subject so many people to this terrible stench when these solutions exist. We also don't know why the owner's and managers of Krochmal Piggery refuse to communicate openly with the thousands of people who live here. The tone and the frustration level of the neighbors here would be entirely different if they did. Unfortunately they only give lawyer-prepared statements to newspapers. Why doesn't the farm utilize the various methods of eliminating the odors?

The other hog farm in Tewksbury seems to cause fewer problems for their neighbors, but is implicated in a report done for the Town of Tewksbury as a contributor to the pollution of Long Pond, which the Town had wanted to use as a recreation area.¹ Our concern is still great however, because Mass. State Laws protect a farms right to expand, without notice to the neighbors, just like Krochmal Farms did.

This website was created from the frustration of injustice. It’s time to seek equal protection under the law for the citizens.

We will continue to update you on our progress, keep checking in for updates.
We support farms that act responsibly and are good neighbors!

Our Goal:

We demand clean air and water in our neighborhood.

We demand to have our constitutional property rights returned.

1 http://www.tewksbury.info/dcd/Community%20Preservation/Long%20Pond%20Report2.pdf