Darlington County Council can't stop turkey farm

Darlington County Council voted not to impose a moratorium on a planned factory-type turkey farm Monday after the county attorney told members council had no legal authority to implement a moratorium.

Opponents of the planned turkey facility in the Pocket Road community had asked council earlier this month to impose a moratorium on such facilities until the county adopts a comprehensive zoning plan.

But County Attorney Jim Cox told council Monday that with no such zoning ordinance currently pending before council, a moratorium would violate state law. The county currently has no zoning ordinance on its books.

Council voted 6-0 with two abstentions to drop the moratorium proposal from council’s agenda. Council members Mozella “Pennie” Nicholson and Wilhelmina Johnson declined to vote.

Earlier, in a room packed with a standing room only crowd, council members heard from several Darlington County farmers opposed to the proposed moratorium, including some who currently operate poultry facilities in the county.

Members also heard from Scott Haselden of Haselden Farms, who is seeking a permit from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) to build the proposed turkey farm.

Haselden said he owns about 200 acres of land in the area and said the proposed turkey facility will occupy about 12 acres of it. The facility will operate with eight houses that will house about 6,000 turkeys each.

“I’m not putting this in people’s backyards,” Haselden said.

“If you do this,” he said, referring to the moratorium, “it will affect every farmer in Darlington County and every citizen in Darlington County.

“I’m just trying to make a living,” Haselden said. He said he chose farming as a career because his father and grandfather were both farmers. And he said he hopes his year-old daughter will one day inherit his farm and operate it herself.

“Farmers in today’s society, we’re getting pushed around,” Haselden said. “I’m just standing my ground for what’s right.”

In recent weeks, council has heard concerns from residents who live near the area of the proposed farm about the possible impact of turkey litter from the facility, which is used as fertilizer, on air and water quality, as well as property values.

Haselden said he plans to live on his property and said his home will be within 1,800 feet of the facility, closer than anyone else, he added.

He said too many young people are leaving farming and that too many family farms are closing down as agricultural land is increasingly developed for residential and other purposes. “Once the land’s gone, it’s gone,” he said.

“It’s hard to make a living farming, and you need to understand that,” he told council members. “Everybody should farm for a year.”

Haselden said he is still awaiting word from DHEC on whether the agency will approve his permit. If it does, opponents of the facility can file an appeal protesting the decision with the DHEC board.

Tommy Chaplin, who operates a poultry facility, invited council members to visit his farm and see for themselves how it operates. And he took issue with those who contend that Haselden’s planned facility will harm drinking water in the area.

“If his poultry facility is going to mess up the drinking water, so is mine, and so is every other one in the state,” Chaplin said.

Chaplin found himself at the center of a storm of controversy five years ago when he sought to get a permit for a factory-style hog farm in Darlington County. Council ultimately blocked that facility with tighter setback regulations than those of DHEC. But because of changes in state law that resulted from that, council now has no authority to impose regulations on livestock operations that go beyond requirements set by DHEC.

Leon Fulmer, who works with an engineering firm that writes manure management plans for livestock operations, said South Carolina has some of the toughest poultry farm regulations in the nation to protect water quality.

Darlington County farmer Mitch Tyner, who was named S.C. Poultry Producer of the Year for 2008 by the S.C. Poultry Federation, said the poultry industry offers family farmers a means of diversification that allows them to keep their farms and continue to make a living farming. He said it also is critical to the state’s economy.

“Farming is changing, and we need to keep farm families,” Tyner said. “In order to do this, farmers have to find a way to produce income that will pay the bills,” Tyner said.

“Poultry farming provides food at your local restaurants,” Tyner said. “How many of you eat at Outback or Chick-Fil-A? The chicken comes from a poultry farm, not a grocery store.”

He said poultry growers in South Carolina implement the safest methods of waste disposal under state and federal standards. “There is a yearly inspection of the farm to make sure the farm is environmental safe for the surrounding area,” he said.

One person spoke in support of the moratorium. A Lamar area resident said she lives on property near where another poultry operation is planned. “I love turkey, but don’t stick it right here on me where I have to breathe it,” she said.