Marietta Township

Editor,

We are not “activists,” whatever that label is supposed to mean.  We are certainly not anti-farming nor anti-business.  And, of course, we are not radical.  

What we are is neighbors, taxpayers and concerned citizens of a beautiful and fragile environment.  We live downhill of the proposed Roth II CAFO, should it be allowed to go forward, and we take offense at the labels and portrayals of us provided by Mr. Roth, Ms. Johnson-Smith and Mr. Bahr, in their comments to the recent Farm Bureau meeting, as printed in the December 10th edition of the Crawford County Independent.

Their effort to minimize our very legitimate concerns by simply dismissing us as “activists” and “radicals” would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious.  We are teachers, retirees, nurses, healthcare workers, store managers, hourly workers, doctors, office administrators, construction workers, and  homemakers. 

We are simply people who are concerned about a farm/factory  putting over 10,000 pigs on a hill above our homes.  We worry about the serious threat to our well water, the smell, the negative health effects, the noise of fans, the loss of our property values, and the potential damage to the environment of a place we love.

In the article, Mr. Roth is quoted as saying, “The activists don’t care what I say.  You have to talk to your neighbors and find out what their concerns are.”  

Well, here we are. We are your neighbors.  We’ve expressed our concerns, but they have not been addressed nor answered.  I hope the County Board will listen to Mr. Roth’s neighbors, as Mr. Roth has himself suggested, and extend the moratorium to allow more time for research into these issues to go forward.  If you were a downhill neighbor, wouldn’t you be concerned?

Kickapoo Lane Neighbors: 

- Jude and Sue Hartwick                                

- Gary Porter

-Ken and Martha Cornish

- Dr. Drew Watson and Chrissy Watson

- Bill and Gina Holtz