CAFOs discussed at Somerset Co. public hearing

Dozens attended Thursday night’s planning and zoning meeting in Somerset County seeking the solutions to the problems they say have been caused by CAFOs, or concentrated animal feeding operations.

Samuel Burley, of Princess Anne, tells 47 ABC that CAFO construction has hurt his property value, “It’s taken most of the value out of my property, I’d be hard pressed to find someone willing to buy my property now as a place to live or a place to rent.”

As Burley is concerned about the financial side of things, fellow Princess Anne resident Lisa Inzerillo is concerned about how the chicken houses effect will her health, “The pollutants that blow out of these poultry houses, they have 16 fans on these new poultry houses. Another medical concern is they have ponds where water-runoff, manuer runs into these ponds.”

For rural Princess Anne family farmers like Inzerillo, the expansion of CAFOs within the county have gotten out of control.

“What I’m concerned about is that they’re going to keep squeezing us and squeezing us,” Inzerillo said, “We’ve had to give up all of our rights, and we don’t get an inch back from them,”

For months, those in opposition of big-chicken operations have been pushing for change but not much has happened.

That’s because a zoning ordinance allows for CAFO expansion.

Most of Somerset county lies within an agricultural residential zone.

This means homes and farms can co-exist in an area as long as the operations follow the rules and regulations.

47 ABC spoke with a poultry worker in favour of expansion, who says that hindering poultry growth on the shore would do more harm than good, eliminating jobs which would potentially keeping many out of work.

After tonight’s meeting, recommendations will be presented to the Somerset County Commissioners.

We’re told the commissioners will then draft an amendment and again take public comments into consideration before a final decision is made.