ABERCROMBIE, N.D. -- The residents of Abercrombie, a community of less than 300, are coming together to push back against a proposed 12,500-head dairy cattle operation planned south of town.
On Tuesday, Dec. 10, about 28 residents, or more than 10% of the 261 residents, met at the Abercrombie Community Center to discuss the next steps in slowing down or stopping the proposal by Riverview Farms, which is based in Morris, Minn.
Riverview Farms hopes to build a $90 million facility just south of Abercrombie in Richland County. The facility would be 1.4 miles from the Wild Rice River and 1.8 miles from the Red River, on top of the Wahpeton Buried Valley Aquifer, which supplies drinking water to 28 domestic wells within a two-mile radius, as well as the communities of Abercrombie, Wahpeton, N.D., and Breckenridge, Minn.
Abercrombie resident Mary Sahl lives about a mile from the proposed facility. She was unaware of the proposal until earlier this year when a neighbor told her the 12,500-head operation was moving in, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.
"But there is something we can do," Sahl said Tuesday. "Our voices are being heard."
Along with the additional cows, the facility will have a milking ring with 10 to 11 trucks leaving the facility per day in two shifts to provide milk to Perham, Minn. Riverview owns dairies in Minnesota, South Dakota, Arizona and Nebraska and owns feedlots in Arizona and New Mexico.
A building permit was granted by the Abercrombie Township for Riverview Dairy LLP in April. In July, Abercrombie residents began speaking out and formed the Citizens for Responsible Growth, which has met regularly since to discuss the process and permit application Riverview Dairy submitted to the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality.
In October, the group asked for and received an extension for the public comment period regarding the permit.
The residents then hired an independent hydrologist to review the permit. Consultant David Erickson released his report in November and called the proposed facility a threat to the area's groundwater and that it "fails to protect North Dakota's surface water due to insufficient requirements for manure application locations, timing and methods."
Erik Olson also lives within a few miles of the proposed facility. He said that although residents have requested a public hearing with the state Department of Environmental Quality -- including a petition with 278 signatures asking for one to be held -- the department has not scheduled any meeting.
According to the permit application process, the DEQ will hold a public hearing if there is "significant public interest in the matter."
"It's something we were very disappointed to hear," Olson said Tuesday.
Sam Wagner, a field organizer with the Dakota Resource Council, a Bismarck-based nonprofit formed to "promote sustainable use of North Dakota's natural resources and family-owned and operated agriculture," has been attending the meetings and assisting residents in their opposition.
"The genesis of this organization is keeping the family farm and your land," Wagner said Tuesday. Wagner said the DRC defines a family farm as one that is sustainable by as few people as possible and a person can farm as many or as few acres as they want.
Wagner said the upcoming North Dakota legislative session will likely see some bills that may change how agricultural operations are regulated. He said a major focus will be a possible change in the required setbacks for swine operations. Swine or hog operations are required to have a mile-and-a-half setback from residential, business or recreational areas regardless of their size.
A new law could change the setback laws to apply to all types of animal operations and also increase the allowed operational size while simultaneously decreasing the setbacks, which would open the door for additional large animal operations, he said.
Sahl again said communication among residents and with legislators will be the key to success.
"I encourage you all to start talking," Sahl said. "What do we want North Dakota's future to look like because it could change drastically? Riverview isn't the only corporation that is going to come to North Dakota, and we really have to start paying attention."
Riverview Farms is also proposing a $180 million, 25,000-head operation southeast of Hillsboro in Traill County. The two proposals would quadruple the number of dairy cattle in North Dakota, which the North Dakota Department of Agriculture estimates at just 10,000 cows across 24 dairy operations.
While some protest Riverview's expansions, others have lauded their new facilities such as in Gary, Minn., where the Waukon Dairy opened more than two years ago. Kelly "Buck" Engen, the mayor and fire chief in Gary, said Riverview has become a positive part of the community.
Riverview representatives did not attend Tuesday's meeting in Abercrombie.
The citizen group plans to meet again at the Abercrombie Community Center after the holidays.