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Marietta Town Board asks County Board to do their due diligence
CAFO Moratorium
Clifford Monroe
CLIFFORD MONROE, Crawford County Marietta Township clerk, has had some experience in the last few years with the issues surrounding the confined animal feeding operation (CAFO) system of agriculture. The town board enacted a CAFO Moratorium in August of 2019, formed a study group, and rescinded their moratorium after Crawford County adopted one in December 2019.

MARIETTA TOWNSHIP - The Marietta Town Board voted to support the call for the Crawford County Board of Supervisors to do their due diligence in fact finding regarding the impact of Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) on the health, safety and welfare of county residents. The vote came at the board’s meeting on Monday, Sept. 21.

In addition to supporting due diligence in fact finding, the board also voted to make clear to the county board that “this is not a Marietta Township issue, but rather a county-wide issue.”

The board’s attorney Eileen Brownlee, will be drafting a statement for the town board to approve. This statement will be sent to the Crawford County Board of Supervisors. The town board declined to sign on to Crawford Stewardship Project’s letter calling for a one-year extension to the county’s CAFO Moratorium, according to town clerk Clifford Monroe, “because there were no other governmental entities as signators to the letter.

“The board does not want to be on record as being either for or against CAFOs,” Monroe said. “They do, however, believe that the county must do their due diligence in investigation of the potential impacts for the health, safety and welfare of county residents.”

Monroe also stated that the board was very strongly of the opinion that this is not just a township issue.

“The county is the unit of government that administers the Livestock Facility Siting Law,” Monroe said. “So that means that it is the county’s responsibility to undertake this fact finding.”