In Buffalo, ND, Locals Battle Over Pigs

A battle over where your next sausage could come from.
 
A proposed pig farm in Buffalo, North Dakota draws the ire of locals, who say they don’t want to bring the bacon home to their town.
 
The state health department answered questions about the impact of a pig farm, and got public input, which, frankly, wasn’t positive.
 
One local pleads, “Who cares that our community was torn apart and probably will never be put back together the way it was before?”
 
In Buffalo, it’s pigs that are the hot topic.

Rolling Green Family Farms wants to put a pig farm two and a half miles south of town.
 
“That’s a big building, and it’s gonna hold 9,000-plus hogs,” says Craig Wendt with the group Concerned Citizens of Buffalo.
 
Nine thousand pigs huddled together.

The prospect raises a lot of questions.

Questions the state health department tried to answer.
 
“We’re hoping to get some good information, find out what people’s concerns are, and if those are things we can address within our rules we’ll address those,” says Karl Rockeman, Director of the Division of Water Quality.
 
Despite the information provided by the state health department at the meeting, locals say it’s not enough to calm any fears about the proposed pig farm.
 
Buffalo resident Eejay Smith says he’s, “very much against it.”
 
Air and water quality is a major concern.

The state won’t let the farm be built within a mile of any home.

But the smell will still be noticeable that far away.

“There may be times that you detect an odor,” Rockeman adds, “but it won’t be to such an extent that it’s going to impact your way of life.”

A local who testified added, “It’s also gonna affect my health when I can’t open my windows anymore.”
 
Locals are also worried about massive manure storage bins underneath the farm.

The plan is to drain the water table, so it won’t come in contact with the bins.
 
Smith says the bins could bring, “major quality of life issues, and potential pollution issues.”
 
The state says the proposed pig farm would be safe. But locals say they don’t care what the state says.
 
Wendt says, “We would like to put an end to this in our community.”
 
Every single local person we talked to was opposed to the pig farm coming to Buffalo.

The state health department will review all public comments before deciding whether or not to issue a permit.

That process should take 60 to 90 days.