An attorney for opponents of a 10,000-hog operation in Kingdom City hopes a court order filed last week will reveal information he believes was unlawfully held from him and his clients.
Friends of Responsible Agriculture (FRA), made up of residents living near the proposed hog farm site, has worked for a year to keep the operation - Callaway Farrowing, LLC - out of the area, citing concerns over water pollution and odor.
After several community forums hosted by FRA, the Department of Natural Resources issued an operational permit for Callaway Farrowing. FRA challenged the permit, but Administrative Hearing Commissioner Karen Winn held the DNR was right in issuing the permit and recommended the Clean Water Commission to uphold it.
The recent court order, filed on June 5, may reopen the hearing process. According to court documents, four of the seven Clean Water Commissioners took two tours of swine concentrated animal feeding operations on March 31 and April 1 without knowledge of FRA attorney Steven Jeffrey or his clients. This, he said, denies his clients of due process. The FRA became aware of the tours after a member overheard commissioners discuss the tours. Attorneys for Callaway Farrowing and the DNR legal counsel also went on the tours, court documents show.
Judge Patricia Joyce's preliminary writ of prohibition canceled the Clean Water Commission's Wednesday meeting where the panel planned to make a decision on the permit. A closed session was still held under Missouri statute, allowing commissioners to discuss legal actions and litigation.
Jeffrey said from a legal perspective, commissioners are bound to comply by the same rules as Missouri judges. This bars any independent fact findings like the tours he and his clients were never given the opportunity to attend, Jeffrey said.
He wants to know what was discussed during the tour, what information was given, how the tours were organized and why he and FRA were not told about the tours. According to Joyce's order, the DNR, Callaway Farrowing and the Clean Water Commission have until July 6 to file a response.
In April, Jeffrey made a request - through email - to Assistant Attorney General Thais Ann Folta that the commissioners on the tours recuse themselves "to avoid any possible appearance of impropriety and impartiality in the hearing process."
Glenn Ehrhardt, spokesman for Callaway Farrowing, did not return a phone call for an interview request.