COLUMBIA — Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster filed an appeal Oct. 28 contesting the buffer zone around Arrow Rock village that prohibited a concentrated animal feeding operation, known as a CAFO, from operating within a two-mile radius of the village.
"What this means is that our buffer zone is threatened,” Julie Fisher, a resident of Arrow Rock, said.
Fisher and her husband own a home in Arrow Rock and were among the first group of citizens to sue the Missouri Department of Natural Resources in support of the buffer zone. Fisher said she thinks CAFOs are harmful to both people and the environment.
There are about 450 CAFOs in Missouri. There are several different classes of CAFOs, depending on size and number of animals.
“We’re prepared to take this to the Missouri Supreme Court,” Fisher said. “We’re not going to drop this.”
The Missouri Farm Bureau has also appealed the denial of a previous motion that prevented it from intervening in the case.
The farm bureau issued a statement that listed several reasons why the ruling on the buffer zone should be reversed. Among them it cited that there was no “legal or factual basis to impose a buffer zone,” and that the court ruling “affects those who are not parties to the action." The brief also states that the circuit judge refused to consider arguments made by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
"The ruling by the circuit court judge cannot and should not be left unchallenged. Just the fact that the circuit judge did not consider all of the arguments is enough of a reason for this case to be overturned," Charles Kruse, president of the Missouri Farm Bureau, said in the statement.