(Arnolds Park)– A court hearing on a lawsuit seeking a temporary and permanent injunction against Dutch Creek Farms has been continued to October 28th. It had originally been scheduled for October 14th. The company is building a 4,400 head hog confinement near Horseshoe Bend County Park southwest of Milford. Neighbors are suing to try to stop it. As part of the hearing being continued, Dutch Creek is banned from any further construction or improvements on the site until after the hearing is held October 28th.
Members of “Save Dickinson County’s Environment”, a group opposed to corporate feedlots being located on unappropriate sites, were updated on the litigation at a meeting Wednesday evening in Arnolds Park.
The group also heard from Howard Garten, a banker and realtor from West Bend about the effects the operations have on property values…saying they can decline from 25 to 50 percent.
Doctor Stephanie Semuth of Northwood, who’s also a member of the Worth county board of health, talked about health-related issues with hog lots. She also talked about Worth county’s health ordinance that deals with air quality, safety for workers in corporate hog facilities and water quality. She talked about the challenges Worth county faced in writing the ordinance and adopting it. She expects it will be challenged in the legal arena.
