David Cassuto
Excellent post here about a recent Missouri Court of Appeals decision eradicating a buffer zone between the historic town of Arrow Rock and a proposed CAFO. In Missouri, a CAFO need be sited only 3000 
feet from residential areas. Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster litigated this case furiously on behalf of the factory farms, arguing that the town´s ordinance requiring the facility be further away represented a trend that “[i]n the eyes of the agricultural community, [was] starting to spin out of control.”
Similar ordinances in other states have also been defeated by Big Ag. According to Larry Gearhardt, Director of Local Affairs at the Ohio Farm Bureau, “We will do everything we can in our power to preserve our exemption from local control.”
To be fair, it is reasonable to argue (as Koster did) that there should be a unified regulatory structure for the entire state. On the other hand, when the state´s unfied regulatory structure encourages factory farming while ignoring the health and wellbeing of the citizenry, the animal victims of the CAFOs, and the environment, then local control becomes the only option.
Filed under: animal advocacy, animal law, factory farms, Uncategorized | Tagged: animal advocacy, animal law, animal welfare, Arrow Rock, CAFOS, Chris Koster, environmental advocacy, environmental law, environmentalism, factory farming, factory farms, farmed animals, industrial farming, Missouri, Missouri Court of Appeal |
Animal Blawg 
Thanks for linking to my post. It’s depressing to see how agribusiness is using the law (and trying to alter entire the legal landscape) in their favor so successfully. Koster so obviously has ties to agribusiness that it’s hard to take anything he says at face value.
Hopefully I’ll find the time to write more now I know that people (especially people whose blogs I really enjoy) are actually reading what I’ve blogged so far!
It’s a pleasure to have you in the blogosphere. I hope you do write more and often.
All best,
dnc
For a brief moment I thought this could be have a positive aspect, in that moving CAFOs closer to historic places would cause more people to take notice/action. I realize that will likely not be the case, and instead it will only increase pollution for that area with little positive change, and more immediate set backs.
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