DNR Thumbs its Arrogant Nose at Public Dissent, Again

Mr Albert Midoux, of Anderson MO has his Letter to the Editor published in The Joplin Globe, Sunday, March 25, 2007. I'd say that he covers the important issues in Missouri.

Change of Guard Needed. The citizens of Missouri are again receiving the shaft from their loyal politicos in Jefferson City and the Department of Natural Resources. The DNR is one of several agencies formed to protect our environment and natural resources. An agency, some believe, that will protect the quality of our aquifers and streams.

It has done neither! The Department of Natural Resources has again thumbed its arrogant nose at public dissent in issuing another CAFO (concentrated animal-feeding operation) permit in very close proximity to Roaring River State Park.

Governor Blunt quickly appointed the present director of DNR Doyle Childers to, in his words, “expedite the issuance of operating permits for CAFOs,” and in this aspect has shown great success, issuing permits as quickly as possible with no obvious interest in public opinion or negative impact of his decisions, showing little regard or total disregard for neighboring states and their concerns of polluted streams from Missouri crossing their borders.

Mr. Childers feels confident of support he has received from Main Street Missouri. The support in laying out the red carpet for Moark’s 3 million hen expansion which added 30 or so low-paying jobs just sniffing distance from Crowder College. The mayor, council members and political cheerleaders should be credited for adding aroma to the curriculum.

When Renewable Environmental Solutions, “a rendering plant designed to produce oil” was “inflicted” upon Carthage, it was hailed as a step toward energy independence. This failed endeavor has yielded more stench and misery than energy independence.

The stench continues to prevail, and the DNR will appear occasionally with their “stink-o-meter” and look confused, while the bureaucrats in Jefferson City are busy pushing for legislation to silence public and media dissent of “mega animal-feeding concentrations.”