State pulls water permit for proposed Foster Farms chicken farm in Linn County
The Oregon Department of Agriculture has pulled a water permit for a proposed Foster Farms chicken complex between Scio and Jefferson, putting on hold for at least six months the controversial confined animal feeding operation for some 3.5 million chickens a year.
A farmer and environmental groups in Linn County filed a lawsuit against the state, alleging the Department of Agriculture-issued water quality permit for the proposed facility was given in violation of of state and federal laws.
The state ofiled a notice on April 19 that it removed the permit, saying it will “affirm, modify or reverse the order” by Oct. 31, according to court filings.
“We’re pretty proud of ourselves, but I say we can’t celebrate too early,” said Christina Eastman, a farmer who lives next to the proposed site and is the plaintiff in the lawsuit
“I can’t say that we have a win," Eastman said. "But we have the possibility of a win. We have to wait for six months to see what the state does.”
Large Foster Farms chicken ranch proposed for Scio
In 2021, Eric Simon, a Foster Farms contract grower from Brownsville, applied to the state for a permit to build a large chicken feeding operation on a piece property he purchased at 37225 Jefferson-Scio Drive.
Simon proposed building 11 large barns on farm land less than 500 yards from the North Santiam River. The barns would house 580,000 chickens at a time and about 3.5 million per year. It would make it the second largest facility of its kind in Oregon.
In 2022, the Oregon Department of Agriculture approved a Water Pollution Control Facilities permit for the proposed J-S Ranch after a public hearing where nearly all people who testified were opposed to the facility.
Neighbors of proposed chicken facility sue the state
Eastman lives on a multi-generation farm yards from the proposed ranch. She and groups including Friends of Family Farmers and Willamette Riverkeeper sued the state’s departments of agriculture and environment quality in Linn County Court in October 2022.
They alleged the state agencies failed to consider the potential groundwater impacts from air emissions —specifically ammonia — produced by the chicken complex.
They also said said the North Santiam River could be impacted by waste from the site and the groundwater could be impacted from the barns.
The North Santiam River is a major tributary of the Willamette River and a drinking water source for cities including Salem, Stayton and Albany.
The state filed for summary judgment, arguing aerial emissions of ammonia from the ranch was not under its purview and that chicken manure produced onsite would not be applied there.
Linn County Circuit Court Judge Rachel Kittson-MaQatish denied that motion in April.
The ruling put off indefinitely a trial scheduled for May, as the parties wait to see what the Department of Agriculture does next.
An attorney for Eastman said the plaintiffs could still proceed with the case if they don't like what the Department of Agriculture decides to do.
The state’s Department of Agriculture still shows J-S Ranch is approved.
A spokesperson for the department did not respond to questions about the permit.
If permit is revoked, CAFO likely won’t go forward
A new state law in 2023 stopped the unlimited amount of ground water CAFOs got to use under previous state laws.
At that time, there were two similarly planned large CAFO’s in the area, one in Stayton and one between Scio and Mill City.After that law went into effect, both properties were put up for sale. That means both likely will never happen.
Another piece of the new law allowed counties to create their own setback requirements. Linn County in December 2023 used the law to reuire a one-mile setback.
The proposed J-S Ranch between Scio and Jefferson was allowed to go forward under the previous law. But if the approved permit is revoked, they would have to reapply under the new law. That could end the the proposed ranch, Eastman said.
“I think that this is the beginning of the end for big chicken to come to Oregon,” Eastman said. “I think that they really thought if they started in these little podunk counties, they could get their foot in the door.
“They just started in the wrong place.”
Bill Poehler covers Marion and Polk County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon pulls water permit for proposed Foster Farms chicken farm,
