Officials pick new site for chicken farm

A proposed 1.69 million cage-free layer-hen operation will not be located in the Grand Lake Watershed as originally planned.

WDC Eggs LLC announced the change Thursday evening. WDC consists of Weaver Brothers Inc., Division Farms LLC and Cooper Farms Inc.

"While we believe that the facility was well-planned and presented no risk to the watershed, after thoughtful deliberation and out of respect for the community, we have decided to delay and relocate the construction of the facility," Tim Weaver of Weaver Brothers said in a news release.

On Tuesday about 150 people attended a public hearing in Celina on the operation planned for Fleetfoot Road northeast of St. Henry. Most came to protest the farm, which would have been located in the Grand Lake Watershed. Concerns included threats to Grand Lake's water quality, wells going dry, increased traffic and a degraded quality of life.

The public's reaction was part of the consideration in moving the farm, but water availability also influenced the decision, Gary Cooper of Cooper Farms told the paper this morning.

"We found out later on there was a water quantity issue that we had not been made aware of in the past. When we originally checked it, we were told there would be no problem," Cooper said. "So when that came out along with public comments that were made, we made the decision that overall it was best for us to move to a new location."

While Mercer County is still an option, he said a new location has not yet been selected.

"There's a possibility. We just don't know for sure where," he said. "At this point everything's open."

Although Cooper said he would prefer to keep the operation in Mercer County, the site must meet all of the operation's needs.  

The farm's draft permit to install called for building 16 layer-hen barns, an onsite egg-processing facility, three egg-wash manure lagoons and two manure storage barns.

The processing facility would produce roughly 2.15 million gallons of liquid egg-wash manure water annually. The liquid would be stored in an interconnected, three-stage pond system that could hold 2.37 million gallons, equal to about 400 days of storage. The farm would generate about 48,000 tons of poultry manure annually.  

WDC said the farm would not have kept manure in the watershed. Ohio Department of Agriculture officials had said the manure would be moved out of the watershed to manure brokers and farmers. The liquid egg-wash manure water would be applied on 17 acres of ground around the operation on a rotating alfalfa crop, the draft permit to install said.

However, Lake Improvement Association and Lake Restoration Commission officials and residents expressed concerns about adding the large operation to the watershed.

LRC Manager Milt Miller said he was "just delighted" with the decision to relocate and applauded the families of WDC.

"We appreciate how much money they must have had invested, but they did the right thing," he said. "It shows their character that they were willing to forgo that and move to a new location. I'm very proud of their courage."

Miller said the relocation is good news for the lake. However, he hopes the operation will be able to find a Mercer County site outside of the watershed.

"It's just wonderful news from the lake's perspective. For Mercer County's sake, I hope they find a new location outside the watershed that works for them because we do want agriculture to grow," he said. "It's so good for the county. Agriculture is the basis for our county's economy, there's no doubt about it."

Cooper does not expect the relocation to cause any major difficulties to WDC.

"It will mostly be a time delay," he said.