DENTON, MD - A substantial turnout marked Tuesday's meeting in Caroline County, where residents gathered to discuss the future of controversial DAF tanks within the community. The tanks, designed for storing animal by-products to be utilized as soil nutrients, have sparked concerns among neighbors regarding unpleasant odors emanating from the storage facilities.
The public hearing, held in response to the county's recent 60-day moratorium on new DAF tank applications, saw a packed room with concerned citizens from Denton, Ridgely, and Greensboro expressing their apprehensions. One by one, residents voiced worries about potential environmental pollution, the introduction of insects, the risk of disease, and uncertainties about the impact on drinking water quality.
Tara Mildenberger, a resident participating in the hearing, expressed, "There's the fear of polluting the surrounding environment. There's the concern over the insects it will bring, the potential for disease, and the uncertainty about what's entering our drinking water."
Michelle Christopher emphasized, "Caroline county is a 'right to farm" community. This is not a farm. This is basically a toxic waste dump of animal waste that they want to put in our community. It's going to impact our property values."
Among the contentious issues discussed was the distinctive smell emanating from the DAF tanks, described by some residents as comparable to dead flesh.
Caroline County Commissioner Norman Bartz explained that the 60-day moratorium was imposed to assess what the county can control. Bartz explained, "Currently, the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) control the application and the processing of it. They do not control the transportation nor do they control the storage of it. So we're at a fact finding, with this public hearing also a fact finding as well, to see what we can control as far as the storage goes. "
Despite the commission's efforts, some say it would be best to implement a permanent moratorium on future DAF tank applications.
Stephen Fleegle, a resident living close to a DAF tank in Ridgely, expressed concerns about health, environmental impact, and the unregulated handling of the situation. "We have a right to enjoy our property; they're taking away our health, possibly taking away our bay and our tributaries. That's a major concern now, with the possible runoff and the non-regulated way this is being handled," Fleegle emphasized.
Fleegle added, "It's diminishing our property values. There's a health concern with all these chemicals that they're bringing in and so forth. And even the health of the bay is threatened by these unregulated out-of-state people bringing this waste into our county."
The Caroline County Commission revealed that there are currently no pending applications for new DAF tanks. The outcome of the public hearing will contribute to a workshop involving poultry companies and rendering plants, aiming to reach a resolution that addresses the concerns of both residents and industry stakeholders.