Residents, Judge Perform DNR's Duty

Wally Kennedy & The Joplin Globe's Editorial Board, Wednesday, August 27, 2008, reported that Presiding Judge Patricia S. Joyce, Cole County (MO) Circuit Court, ruled in favor of the Missouri Parks Association, the Village of Arrow Rock, and the Friends of Arrow Rock, in prohibiting the construction of a 4,800-head hog Confined Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) from building within 15 miles of the National and State Historic Park. Today's Editorial said it all, "Residents, Judge Perform DNR's Duty. We want to celebrate and call it a victory. In reality, it's a tragedy....Make no mistake: Joyce's decision is a major victory for anyone who appreciates the natural beauty of the Ozarks. But the court's decision demonstrates a tragedy of tremendous proportion, because it shows that residents can not trust DNR to do its job."

Wally Kennedy's front page article, Court Ruling Halts CAFO Construction, does an excellent job characterizing the significance of Judge Joyce's ruling. Here is the link to the Case No. 07AC-CC00923, Missouri Parks Association, Village of Arrow Rock and Friends of Arrow Rock vs. Missouri Department of Natural Resources and Doyle Childers, Director; Cole County, MO. [Click on link to Missouri Case.net, pull down and click on 19th Judicial District, then under last name, type Friends of Arrow Rock]

Docket Entry: Judgment Entered
Text: Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment against Department of Natural Resources came before this Court for hearing on July 21, 2008. Both Plaintiffs and Defendant were represented by counsel. After reviewing the pleadings and considering the arguments of counsel, this Court grants Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment and makes the rulings findings of facts and legal conclusions as outlined in the Judgment. PSJ (copies of Judgment faxed to Attorney of Record this date and certified hard copies mailed.)
Filing Party: JOYCE , PATRICIA S

Here are excerpts from The Joplin Globe article,
(1) Joyce wrote: “If the Gessling CAFO is constructed and placed in operation as planned, this will decimate and destroy an irreplaceable part of the historical heritage of this nation and this state.”
(2) The decision was hailed by opponents of a 65,600-chicken CAFO near Roaring River State Park. The Roaring River Parks Alliance has filed appeals of the permits the DNR has issued for constructing and operating the CAFO.
(3) Joyce, in her ruling, cited the Roaring River fight as a reason to block the Gessling CAFO. The state Administrative Hearing Commission, she said, entered a stay order commanding that construction not proceed on the chicken CAFO at Roaring River. The DNR, she said, “failed and refused” to honor or enforce the stay order.
(4) She said an appeal has been filed with the commission in an effort to stop construction of the Gessling CAFO. She wrote: “Even if the appeal is sustained by the commission, the plaintiffs are without an adequate remedy since the DNR has not within the past five years enforced, complied with or honored any stay order rendered by the commission.”
(5) Childers said the stay order involving the Roaring River site was not enforced because the chicken CAFO already had been built. But opponents said construction was still under way when the stay order was issued.
(6) The alliance, he said, filed the appeals to stop the chicken CAFO at Roaring River in an effort to prevent other CAFOs from being constructed there. The judge’s ruling, he said, eliminates the threat of new CAFOs being constructed near the park, one of Missouri’s top tourist destinations.
(7) The judge said the construction of CAFOs near state parks and historic sites poses an unacceptable health risk because of “odors and volatile and dangerous airborne pollutants” emitted by them. She cited reports by the United Nations, the World Health Organization and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to support her position.

CAFO Background on Missouri Parks (Arrow Rock, Athens, and Roaring River)
Arrow Rock State Park & Dennis Gessling
July 2007
Arrow Rock Public Information Meeting July 19 @ 5:00pm

Athens State Park & Terry Daw Farms
February 2007
Athens State Park (Clark County, MO), Terry Daw Farms, CAFO's & Cargill

Roaring RiverState Park & Michelle Ozbun
January 2007
Barry County, CAFOs and Ozbun Farms
February 2007
Citizens to Protect State Parks and Historic Sites
Barry County, CAFO's and Ozbun Farms, Part 2
March 2007
Eagle Rock Group Appealing CAFO Permit
"It's my land..." says Michelle Ozbun
Barry County, CAFO's and Ozbun Farms, Part 3
May 2007
Update on 65,600-chicken CAFO Eagle Rock, MO
August 2007
Ozbun's 65,600 chicken CAFO ON HOLD
March 2008
Ozbun CAFO hearing June 16-20, Jefferson City