Latest news with #Ellington-based
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
CT town blocks dairy farm plan for manure lagoon. Cow odor from nearby community raised as issue.
The manure lagoon is a no-go for now. A crowd of Somers residents was pleased Tuesday night when zoning officials blocked Oakridge Dairy's plan to truck tons of cow manure to a nearly 3-acre man-made lagoon on Watchaug Road. But the dispute isn't over, since the decision didn't address whether large manure pits are allowed in town. The unanimous vote said Oakridge can't simply proceed, but instead would have to through the formal review process of applying for a zoning permit. Scores of residents showed up at the zoning board of appeals hearing, with several arguing why they think the Ellington-based Oakridge shouldn't be allowed to dig an open pit for storing millions of gallons of cow manure and water. A zoning regulation that permits 'farm ponds' shouldn't apply to this case, they argued. 'A pond that contains water isn't the same as a pond that contains diluted manure,' Ann Levesque said. 'Somers doesn't want to be another Smellington.' Smellington is a word used to deride another town in the state, Ellington, which has many cows. Attorney and long-time resident John Parks, who helped write Somers' most recent zoning rules, agreed. 'They're exporting waste from Ellington to Somers under the guise of fertilizer,' he said, drawing applause. The cows at Oakridge, the state's largest dairy, are generating more waste than the company can handle at its Ellington property, he contended. But that shouldn't be Somers' problem, he argued, saying 'I think Ellington allowed it, Ellington embraced it, Ellington should keep it.' The hearing wasn't directly about whether Somers should allow manure lagoons, appeals board members emphasized. Instead, the issue was whether the zoning enforcement officer should have allowed the company to proceed without going through the permitting process. Town Attorney Carl Landolina advised her to do that, saying the pit would qualify as agriculture — which is far less regulated that commercial or industrial operations. But neighbor Owen Jarmoc filed an appeal; his attorney, Dwight Merriam, argued Tuesday night that the decision to let the project advance was made without enough information. A rule allowing for a farm pond was intended to help very small operations with one or two horses, not a high-volume business that could be sending 1,400 tractor trailerloads of manure a year to its Watchaug Road land, he said. 'The zoning commission never intended a 2.91-acre, 7.4 million-gallon open manure storage (pit)' as an assumed right in town, he said. Dorian Reiser, Oakridge's attorney, argued that the only question for the board to decide was whether the operation would be agriculture. 'We're not getting into how this would be constructed, how it will be managed,' she said. She said the pond is designed for irrigation, not storage. 'Oakridge has been farming this property for years,' Reiser told the board. 'I don't care if this is a farm pond. This is an agricultural use. ' Jill Conklin of School Street said driving by Oakridge's Ellington facility is unpleasant. 'I drive by Oakridge every day. A lot of times we close our windows when we get to that area, it does smell at certain times of the year,' she said. The trailers loaded with diluted manure are open on top, and there's sloshing at stop signs and red lights that creates large spills on streets, she said. 'If you drive through this stuff, get it up in your wheel wells and park in your garage, your whole house is going to stink,' she said.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Central CT neighbors balk at prospect of dairy's 2.9-acre ‘manure lagoon'
Homeowners in the northwestern section of Somers are planning a large turnout at a hearing Tuesday night on whether an Ellington dairy should be allowed to dump large quantities of cow manure into a holding area near their houses. Oakridge Dairy contends it is putting in an irrigation pond, but neighbors say it amounts to a manure lagoon — and will be every bit as unappealing as that name sounds. Ellington-based Oakridge, which state agriculture officials describe as Connecticut's largest dairy, wants to truck cow waste to a field along Watchaug Road in Somers where it's proposing to dig a 2.9-acre holding pit. Watchaug Road homeowner Kevin Phillips this weekend was putting out lawn signs showing opposition and advising neighbors that a hearing is set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at town hall. He said people in the area don't want the smell or risk of water pollution from a massive pit of animal waste. The company argues that the pit would qualify as a farm irrigation pond under zoning and agricultural regulations, which give wide latitude to farming operations. Somers still has active farms, and its zoning code lists numerous agricultural activities as ZPNR: Zoning permit not required. In October, Oakridge proposed a 5-acre holding pit on the Watchaug Road property for manure from its Ellington dairy. It was required to seek a sepcial use zoning permit, which was denied because town officials concluded it would be too close to the high-water table. At the time, there was significant opposition to the request. 'The proximity of such a development to residential areas would lower home values, diminishing the investments homeowners have made and affecting the town's economic stability through decreased property taxes,' Scott Robert wrote on Facebook at the time. This winter, the company's engineer, J.R. Russo & Associates of East Windsor, notified the town that Oakridge wants to put an irrigation pond at the same site. It would be more than 2 acres smaller and also shallower, and would be farther from the high water table, according to Oakridge. 'It is Oakridge Dairy's position that construction of the irrigation pond is part of the farm's normal agricultural operations,' Russo said in a letter. 'Thus, the proposed activity does not require zoning approval.' Jennifer Roy, the zoning enforcement officer, consulted with the town attorney and concluded that Oakridge could build without going through the permitting process. Owen Jarmoc, who owns farmland and an airstrip alongside the site of the proposed pit, filed an appeal, which will be the subject of the zoning board of appeals' hearing on Tuesday night. A phone message Monday for Oakridge owner Seth Bahler was not returned. Neighbors say they're concerned about quality-of-life issues like odors, increased truck traffic and the possibility of insect swarms. But they also want studies of the potential impact on groundwater if the animal waste leaches through clay-lined pit. Russo said there will be a 2-foot clay liner designed to U.S. Department of Agriculture standards. If the zoning appeals board were to uphold Roy's decision, Oakridge would be able to go ahead with its plan. If the board sustains Jarmoc's appeal, the company would be required to apply for a zoning permit.
