PROTEST
• Jim McWilliams, right, and his attorney
Milton Harmon address the Juab County Commission
about the new dairy being built west of Nephi.
McWilliams told the commission that he had
concerns even though the dairy is a permitted
use in the zone where it is being built.
McWilliams lives south of the dairy site.
By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
A dairy being built west of Nephi has raised concerns
from one neighbor because waste lagoons are being built at
the dairy site.
Jim McWilliams, a former member of the county land use
board, and his attorney, Milton Harmon, met with
commissioners to raise concerns about the facility which is
now under construction.
The dairy is being built by the Blackhurst family on
property located West of Nephi.
"First, on the original planned drawings that were
submitted to the county and considered by the official
county boards, there was no designation of fecal waste
disposal lagoons," said Harmon.
The lagoons did come up in discussions at planning (land
use) meetings but the indication was that, if any lagoons
were to be built, they would be located in the northeast
corner of the property.
That property is currently owned by the Peterson
family.
There are also strong and offensive odors which come from
fecal lagoons and, McWilliams said, he is concerned about
the effect that would have one property he has just across
the street from his property west of Nephi.
Part of his property has his home on it and a portion of
the property has been zoned for commercial development. That
zone, said McWilliams, has been in place for five years.
In addition, McWilliams owns hundreds of acres of land in
that general area and the land is intended for further
development.
"Jim (McWilliams) was in favor at the time the dairy was
proposed," said Robert Steele, commissioner.
Steele said he had attended those meetings and, either at
the meeting or directly afterward, McWilliams had told him
directly that he did not object to having the dairy as a
neighbor.
Glenn Greenhalgh, who is director of the land use board,
said there had been some discussions about the need for
lagoons. Unlike the dairy near Levan, however, the material
collected would not be sprinkled.
Commission Chairman Neil Cook said that, it was his
understanding, that the dairy had proposed a dry use of
waste and not a wet use.
"My question is," said McWilliams, "is the county going
to allow them to build the lagoons right next to my
property&emdash;right next to my front yard?"
His one concern, said Steele, was that the place the
lagoons were being built was in a natural drain where Cary
Peterson, the former owner of the property, had had to haul
a lot of fill. It was a storm wash and may end up taking
lagoon material out into the valley in case of a large
storm.
Harmon said there was one more consideration the county
needed to understand.
That was that there had been a recent e-coli
contamination in California in spinach and lettuce fields
which may have been contaminated by their close association
with a dairy or a cattle feedlot and the disposal methods of
fecal material which may have caused the contamination.
"Since the Blackhurst dairy is located in an agricultural
area of Juab county where products, which are sold for use
in feeding dairy animals and grain for human consumption are
grown, there is a need to have this plan evaluated," said
Harmon. "We need to know what the lagoons will be used
for."
"We need to assure the public that there is no danger
arising by the installation of these lagoons or the manner
of their operations and that adequate planning has been done
for the maintenance and operation of these lagoons, control
of offending odors, and adequate protection from e-coli
contaminations," said Harmon.
McWilliams requested the deferments of the construction
of the lagoons until the issues can be addressed. This
should be done, he said, because there was not adequate
public notice made of the installation of the fecal disposal
lagoons.
"They are digging very hard," said Val Jones,
commissioner. "Glenn (Greenhalgh) and I will go talk to
them."
McWilliams said he spoke to the owners about his concerns
thinking that they could hold up a bit on the building so it
would not cost them so much if the lagoons needed to be
moved. However, that had not occurred and the lagoons were
still under construction.
"They are going full-bore," said Steele.
While a dairy is an allowed use in the zone where it is
being built, said McWilliams, new construction is never
allowed to take away the rights of others who are already
there.
McWilliams said he thought the land use board was mislead
as to the size and location of the lagoons.
Jones said he would like to see the Blackhurst Dairy slow
down on construction of the lagoons until a November meeting
can be called.
McWilliams said the one lagoon was approximately 150-feet
by 350-feet and the other was 85-feet by 85-feet. There
appeared to be a drain in the bottom of each. He had been
told that a drip line would be installed to new trees which
are to be planted.
Another problem, said McWilliams, is that the dairy was
not able to purchase all the property they needed and so
they may have changed the site plan.
Nevertheless, he said, the thought the county commission
should request the dairy stop building and wait for a
decision before they were required to move what had been
done and, thereby, waste money.
"Since he (McWilliams) brought the issue up with the
owners, the work has escalated and it needs to be reigned
in," said Harmon.
If a public meeting is called by the land use board to
further discuss the issue, the commissioners should all plan
to attend, said Greenhalgh.
Meantime, Greenhalgh and Jones will visit the site and
find out just what is happening.
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