IATP Hog Report - Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

Section 5
finishing sites. 43 Altogether there would be 13 sites. A typical 120-acre,
24-building, 48,000-hog finishing site would have a five-acre anaerobic
digester pond 32 feet deep and a 50-acre evaporation pond (lagoon) nine
feet deep. 44 Each 35-acre, 5,000-sow production site would have an
approximately 2.3-acre anaerobic digester pond 32 feet deep and a 20-acre
evaporation pond nine feet deep.
Every two hours, hog and human wastes would be "flushed" from the
buildings to the digester ponds. 45 Manure solids would be allowed to
accumulate at the bottoms of the digester ponds while the separated
liquids would be allowed to evaporate.
At the end of around 25 years of operation, it was expected that the
manure solids or sludge rich with accumulated nutrients, as well as heavy
metals would need to be removed from the ponds.
Because tribal lands are held in trust for the tribes by the U.S. government,
the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) must approve the lease and, in so
doing, must comply with relevant federal laws, including the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
A preliminary environmental assessment (EA) was prepared for the Tribe
and the Bureau of Indian Affairs by RESPEC, a South Dakota engineering
consulting firm. 46 During a public comment period, numerous tribal
members and area residents, the South Dakota Department of
Environment and Natural Resources, the Mellette County Board of
Commissioners, and citizen groups pointed out inaccuracies and
deficiencies in the EA and requested that an Environmental Impact Study
be conducted. 47 Among the many concerns expressed was where manure
would be spread if plans for evaporation failed.
Also left unspecified in the EA were the issues of how the sludge would
be disposed of landfill or spreading and where. Mellette and surrounding
counties are made up largely of prairie and ranchland. Since Sun Prairie
and Bell presumably would be out of the picture before 25 years had
passed, this problem would be left for the RST to deal with.
Commenters also noted endangered species in the area; cultural sites
important to the Sioux people; the conflict between hog factory methods
and Native values regarding respect for animals and nature; water use; and
serious unanswered questions and vaguely worded statements from
RESPEC about animal waste management. They noted that the project
would produce, in liquefied feces, waste equivalent to that of a city of
around 3,000,000 people and urged careful consideration of the impacts of
so much fecal waste on the area. RESPEC also had failed to evaluate
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