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Welcome to
TewksburyOdor.org
& WilmingtonOdor.org
Why is there a factory hog operation
in
a residential area
destroying the quality of life of thousands of residents?
Krochmal Farms was once a small family farm. Now it is a Factory Farm. Krochmal Farms is a 900-hog would-be-CAFO that spreads millions of pounds of waste, so far without a management plan, in our neighborhood each year! This area has THREE toxic waste dumpsites (one on Krochmal Farm)... We don't need more pollution.
There has been some farm odors here for a long time. In general people didn't care as much because the odors weren't as severe or as frequent as they are now. The extreme odor problems began about three years ago after the piggery constructed the large pig confinement and waste storage structure which the Mass. Dept. of Agricultural Resources admits is "not prevalent in Massachusetts where pig farms are generally smaller". This building, which is reportedly designed to hold roughly twice as many animals as the piggery is permitted for, has large fans which force the gases that emanate from the pigs' waste into the air of a suburban residential neighborhood. This waste is kept directly below the pigs in a large, open, storage tank that holds about a HALF MILLION GALLONS OF WASTE adjacent to wetlands and only a matter of feet from homes. The fans keep the pigs from being asphyxiated and poisoned by these gases, and the neighbors pay the price. This building was constructed without building permits, without oversight from the Conservation Commission or Board of Health and without due process afforded to abutters.
The tank is apparently the primary source of odor for neighbors. The other source is the spreading of the pig waste. Farmers pump-out the waste from the tank and use it to spread on crop land and spreading fields. When the waste is being sprayed, particles of pig waste become airborne. Depending on the direction of the wind, neighbors inhale it and it gets all over your property, including the kid’s toys, your car, etc. In addition, spreading pig waste on crop land is one of the biggest sources of pollution. The waste runs off the crop land and fields and into nearby wetlands and streams. These waterways eventually make it to rivers, where the organic compounds in pig waste cause more vegetation to grow which depletes the oxygen in the water. The fish can’t live without oxygen. The entire ecosystem is affected.
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.
This website is here for the frustrated people Tewksbury, Wilmington and Andover. If Krochmal Farms communicated openly and worked with neighbors it wouldn't be here and this group would assist the farm in finding solutions.
Krochmal Farms has:
- ...allowed horrible odors to waft into the air of Tewksbury, Wilmington and Andover, taking away constitutional property rights of hundreds or even thousands of people.
- ...built a large structure with a half-million gallon waste holding tank without ANY oversight from the town or notification of abutters.
- ...spread manure on land very near wetlands against DAR "Best Management Practices"
What can be done about this?
You can support free range farming, the animals live better lives and neighbors don’t have significant odor problems. You can tell your elected officials to support State Laws that protect air quality and pollution from swine operations. If you live near a swine operation, fight for your basic rights to breathe clean air, use and enjoy your property and protect the value of that property.
Some Questions:
- Why doesn't Krochmal Farms seem to care about it's hundreds of unhappy neighbors? They don't readily respond to their neighbors. They rarely, if ever, speak to the press. Why?
- Why has it been stated that the farm is following "Best Management Practices" when tons of pig manure were spread on fields surrounded by a flood zone, where the water table is extremely high? The MDAR's "Best Management Practices state that manure shouldn't be left sitting out in areas 200 feet from wetlands.1 Virtually ALL of the land where Krochmal Farms puts it's manure is within 200 feet of wetlands.
- Why does the Mass. DAR say the farm is following "Standard Agricultural Practices" in their letter to our BOH while admitting they didn't fully inspect the farm?2 The MDAR admits it didn't fully inspect the area of the farm where they put and spread the manure and yet filed a report saying the farm was complying with "Standard Agricultural Practices".
- Why is the MDAR suddenly and repeatedly using the term "Standard Agricultural Practices" instead of "Best Management Practices" which they used in numerous letters for months?
- Why doesn't the farm utilize the various methods of
eliminating the odors? And if they have, why
did it smell worse than ever last summer and fall?
Our Goal:
We demand breathable air and water in our neighborhood.
We demand to have our constitutional property rights returned.
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Putting Meat on the Table: A Report of the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production TewksburyOdor.org Supports Click here to read the correspondence from FarmAid to us We support Farm Aid: We are pro-farm! We are anti-factory-farm-in-a-residential-area! Farm Aid does NOT support factory farms and the pollution they cause. Lodging
Complaints in Tewksbury: TewksburyOdor.org and odor problem #2 story of the 2007 - Tewksbury Advocate Letter from Rep. Miceli's Office Dear Residents of Tewksbury, Wilmington, and Surrounding Towns, On behalf of Chairman Miceli, I am writing in response to the outpouring of calls and emails our office has recently received regarding the foul odor at Krochmal Farm. The Chairman would like to reiterate that we read every email that comes into the office and keep all complaints on file. Also, please feel free to call the office as well. We always want to hear from you and encourage you to contact us in the method that makes you feel most comfortable. Please understand that Chairman Miceli is just as frustrated as you are that the the issue of the odor has not been resolved, and even seems to have worsened with the advent of the warm weather. A representative from our office will be at the Tewksbury Board of Health meeting that the farm owners will be testifying at. Also, we are scheduled to have a roundtable follow-up meeting in June here at the State House. Hopefully, all major agencies involved in the last discussion roundtable will attend this one as well. We shall meet to discuss what actions have been taken to improve the odor thus far. Since that is a month away, this office will continue to diligently work with the Tewksbury Board of Health and the state agencies involved in the meantime. I know how frustrating this is for everyone. Chairman Miceli knows, and is sympathetic to, the fact that this affects every aspect of your lives. He has witnessed the odor from the farm himself. Even I have smelled it from the highway while inside my car with the windows closed. He is outraged that residents of his district cannot enjoy their homes and yards, and in addition, suffer emotional strain from dealing with the stench. Chairman Miceli will continue to be actively involved and on your side until this is resolved. He will continue to do everything in his power to work with the agencies involved and the towns to rectify this problem. Thank you. Elizabeth C. Sousa, Esq. |
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