The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has clamped down on a questionable mega-farm in Huntington County, but a deal forcing the sale of the farm is not sitting well with all the next door neighbors.
Johannes DeGroot will be barred from running any livestock feeding operations in the Hoosier state until 2048, but the company set to take over DeGroot's farm does not instill confidence in at least one nearby resident.
The farm is located in Andrews Indiana.
For seven years now, neighbors have voiced concern that DeGroot was washing raw sewage right into area streams and the Salamonie Reservoir.
IDEM launched legal action to correct the environmental concerns, and Monday got DeGroot to give up the farm.
The fact that the new buyer, the Vreba-Hoff Company, has also been taken to task by regulators in Ohio and Michigan, makes Bonnie Hahn wonder what IDEM was thinking.
Bonnie Hahn/Upset Neighbor: " They're just asking for more problems as far as I'm concerned. I don't know. I've been in close contact with the guys down at IDEM and I guess all the talking that I've done, even though they've agreed with me that they understand where I'm coming from, no they don't, or they wouldn't be doing this."
We asked IDEM to check on Vreba-Hoff's compliance history and get back with us, but late Tuesday, we hadn’t heard from the agency.
Meanwhile, Vreba-Hoff hopes to expand the farm operation.
IDEM claims Vreba-Hoff is seeking necessary permits to do that.
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