Why does
the Mass. Farm Bureau
Federation have
it's facts wrong about us and House Bill 3818?
According to
the "Legislative
White
Paper", published by the Massachusetts Farm Bureau
Federation, the
neighbors of this factory hog operation "have been unable to
shut it down."
This is just
not true.
We haven't tried
to shut down the farm. People from good farms that appreciate
the importance of co-existing with neighbors should know that
they are being misled.
The Massachusetts Farm
Bureau Federation says our bill (the Home Rule Petition that passed
overwhelmingly at Town Meeting) "is perhaps the largest threat
facing agriculture statewide at the moment."
Most industries have regulations. There are two swine operations
in Tewksbury
- One built a 1500-head Finisher Building -
industrial hog facility - 590 feet from neighbors without
any permits or notifications
- ...spread and compost millions of gallons of hog waste
in a high water table area already impacted by toxic dump
sites
- ...have a long history of raising
animals for human consumption next to THREE toxic waste
areas. One a Superfund site yards from where pigs have been
for decades, one a 21E site on the farm (that was in
default for years) only yards from where cattle have been
for years?
- ...fill in wetlands without permits
- ...make it unbearable for children at a School to have
recess
- The other swine operation allows runoff into wetlands
that feed into a pond the Town wanted to use as a
recreational area
The Farm
Bureau goes onto say "This is not a swine issue or a Tewksbury
issue. This is an agricultural issue for the entire Commonwealth
and must be defeated."
There are
serious issues from swine operations that affect Tewksbury.
The MDAR admits that one of the swine operations is of a size is not
prevalent in Massachusetts. The area in that part of Tewksbury has an extremely high
water table and the affected areas are in the Shawsheen Valley
which is particularly prone to the affects of severe odors
and pollution.
Our Bill is
reasonable and allows for co-existence with farms.
We call on
the Farm Bureau to promote Sustainable Farming and to open it's
ears to neighbors of the very few agricultural operations that cause
extreme damage to quality of life.
Read the
Farm Bureau's Legislative White Paper
HERE
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