'Children come before chickens'

MISSOURI - A local citizen's group intends to stop a proposed Moark expansion until the company can prove they are indeed "a good neighbor."

The Southwest Missouri Citizens Against Local Moark Expansion (SWMCALME) said their intention is not to shut down the egg producer, but to get them to address a series of environmental violations.

"I think everybody that lives out here has been looking the other way," said Dr. Richard Betz, one of the founders of the group. "As long as they're not growing any bigger, they tolerate it."

The group began in February after neighbors of the Moark complex south of Neosho were notified of a request made to the Missouri Depart-ment of Natural Resources to add 3.2 million hens to the 1.3 million present at its Moark 7 complex south of Neosho.

Moark has announced that it was expanding and modernizing the Crowder facility. According to Moark officials, this expansion includes constructing 13-16 state-of-the-art egg laying facilities while eliminating many current, outdated facilities. These more modern facilities will significantly reduce odors associated with a large poultry operation, officials have said, as each building will be equipped with a drying tube placed beneath the cages to dry the manure.

Source: neoshodailynews.com

3 June 2005