Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Contact: Nancy Miller, 507-280-3590 Rochester, Minn. -- The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has prepared an Environmental Assessment Worksheet for the proposed expansion of a swine facility near Wells in Faribault County. The EAW, which describes potential impacts on land use, water quality, and air quality, is open for public review and comment Oct. 8 through Nov. 5, 2007. Feist Livestock plans to add an 82-foot by 230-foot total confinement barn designed to house 2,400 finishing swine (720 animal units) to its existing operation. The total animal unit count after expansion will be 4,800 head of finishing swine, or 1,440 animal units. Manure will be collected in concrete pits beneath the barns and removed once a year in the fall after the crops have been harvested and injected into cropland as fertilizer. The EAW provides basic information on how a proposed project could potentially affect the environment. During the 30-day period it is open to public review and comment. Comments on the EAW should be submitted to the MPCA in writing by 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 5, 2007 to Jim Sullivan, MPCA, 520 Lafayette Rd. N., St. Paul, MN 55155-4194, or by fax to 651-297-2343. The MPCA will use these comments to evaluate the potential for significant environmental effects from the project, and to decide if an Environmental Impact Statement, a more comprehensive environmental review, is needed. Copies of the Feist Livestock EAW are available for review at:
· MPCA St. Paul office, 520 Lafayette Rd. N.
· MPCA Web site at www.pca.state.mn.us/news/eaw/index.html
· Wells Public Library, 54 1st St. SW.
· MPCA Rochester office, 18 Wood Lake Dr. SE.
Copies may also be requested directly from the MPCA by calling 651-297-8510. Questions about the project should be directed to Jim Sullivan at 651-297-1788, or toll-free at 1-800-657-3864. The permit application and associated documents, including the air emissions and odor management plan, animal mortality plan, emergency response plan and manure management plan, are available for review by contacting Rob Kostinec, MPCA Rochester office, 507-285-7305.