Demonically Possessed Slaughter Crazed Ideologues Wrecking Rural Whatcom
Permalink +Wed, May 22, 2013, 10:12 am // Guest writer
Guest writer Nicole Brown submitted this an an email. Tip Johnson has edited a few words and posted it as a guest piece.
---
Get ready for a public hearing in 2 weeks on slaughterhouses and packing plants in the agriculture zone. The Whatcom County Council committee voted to bring it forward for recommendation tonight.
I am asking for your help.
1. Wendy Harris has worked hard to demand that the rezoning of 80,000 acres zoned agricultural not take place at all because industrial activity of this scale belongs in Rural Industrial Management zones. She has been ignored.
2. Department of Ecology testified a month ago to committee that slaughtering facilities of this scale and type are, in fact, industrial. Known polluters that require an industrial waste permit. This has been pretty much ignored.
3. At the VERY LEAST we asked that if this rezone moves forward, slaughtering and meat packing be prohibited in critical areas (frequently flooded, shorelines, fish habitat, and aquifer recharge). They outright denied this logical amendment that safeguards important natural resources.
4. We also asked that they not permit 50% of animals slaughtered can be imported from out of county or Canada. Currently, there is an estimated 50,000 head of cattle sent away for slaughter that could be slaughtered here. It makes sense that planning accommodate these animals, but not invite an additional 50,000 head of cattle be imported in for slaughter, which would benefit nobody except the slaughterhouse owner. We already have a water quality and quantity issue in Whatcom County. Cattle are known polluters and consumers of this important resource. Why design a system that relies on importing more animals into our county and having to deal with their waste from holding through slaughter, which is a very high waste and high water industry.
5. We also asked that these facilities be limited in size, on agricultural lands, to 10,000 square feet. Anything bigger should be in the RIM. They claim there is no room in the RIM; but why not rezone more RIM for such industry rather than farmland? This request has also been ignored and the facility limit has been set at 30,000 square feet.
6. There remains a 0 foot buffer between property lines, which means these facilities could butt up against organic fields and u-pick berry farms. I spoke with WSDA and it would be up to the organic farmer to surrender field space to create a buffer.
These seem like reasonable asks, but there has been no negotiation. Furthermore, we know there are only a few supporters of this change in the dairy industry. They also have access to strong Tea Party listservs. The majority of people contacting council are opposed. Still, no negotiating with council on this.
We don't have a lot of time. I ask that farmers, climate activists, community rights organizers, animal rights advocates, and lovers of the water and the land commit to the issue from your own place of passion, but it is important for us to be on point with our "asks" from council. Please consider having this dialogue among your own networks and understand the importance of showing up strong on June 4.
In the meantime, council can be reached at: council@co.whatcom.wa.us
Comments (2)
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Tip Johnson // Wed, May 22, 2013, 3:01 pm
A BIG BACKROOM DEAL is the only conceivable explanation for Council’s hyper-liberalized approach to slaughter. They have eschewed and disdained heaping research and evidence of potential harm, but hew to unsubstantiated claims of their whacky friends. Plus they keep trying to hide what they are doing, making new words with new meanings to cloud their intent.
They want small-scale slaughter but hope to approve an unlimited number of 50 million lb/year facilities anywhere on 88,000 acres of rural Whatcom County. So Small now means Large.
They started out wanting slaughterhouses, but didn’t like the reputation of industrial animal slaughterhouses. So they changed the name to agricultural slaughterhouses. So Agriculture now means Industrial.
They didn’t like the reception they were getting with slaughterhouses, so they adopted Ben Ellenbaas’ suggestion to call them packinghouses instead. So Packing now means Slaughter.
They want them everywhere so they changed the definition of ‘accessory use’ to allow them everywhere. So Accessory now means Permitted.
This should rightly be a defining issue in the upcoming elections for these demonically-possessed, slaughter-crazed propertarian nutjob ideologues so willing to rashly adopt such careless policy that could wreck the character of rural Whatcom County.
Alex McLean // Wed, May 22, 2013, 10:35 pm
Council,
One of the frequent complaints among conservatives in this community, and the nation at large, is that liberals over-reach with their rules and agendas. This, as you know, is typically an argument against the burdens imposed by the EPA or, more locally, by documents such as the Growth Management Act which restricts the ability of property owners to do whatever they want, whenever they want, on their land.
I would suggest that the current example of your proposal allowing slaughterhouses – anywhere and everywhere in Ag lands – is exactly the sort of extreme over-reach, and outright intrusion, that conservatives typically rail against. Perhaps the polar equivalent would be if the County were, instead, proposing that every household must grow and eat organic foods, or install green roofs, or, perhaps, build abortion clinics in their driveways.
Has there been any consideration of how this proposal will impact neighbors’ property values or, for that matter, the water quality and air quality (smell and dust) that may impact abutting farms or residences? Do the tax revenues go up for the County when nobody can sell their home anymore due to the stench of rotting animal flesh that will blanket their property … or could, someday, any day in the future, anywhere near or downwind of these thousands and thousands of acres effected by this rezone?
The extremists that this Council is currying favor to in this scheme – which seems entirely reminiscent of the gravel pit scams and scandals of prior years – are the only ones who will benefit from it. You are threatening to impose a long-lasting and negative impact on 88,000 acres of the only Agricultural Land that we have left which, once we have eaten every delicious Canadian cow, may prove to be a valuable resource to future generations in this county.
Why is it so impossible for this Council to reign in this massive, broad-stroke proposal? What is the Hell-fire emergency that demands you open the floodgates for large-scale, industrial, slaughter facilities on every damn inch of these 88,000 acres? Is it too much to ask to simply limit these uses to Industrial Areas or, in some sanely negotiated manner, to consider a much more narrow and targeted area which, hopefully, would have the least impact to both the surrounding farms and the most sensitive environmental features? Given a small nail to adjust, center, and pound home, it seems like the County Council first reached for a 9-lb. sledgehammer then, feeling even that blunt instrument was too dainty, they decided to lob a million-ton bollard of steel upon the challenge to provide the solution.
This proposal is really, really dumb. It is confusing a lot of people who, whatever their politics, expected at a bare minimum that our elected County officials would act with some moderation and care before making such bold, and potentially dangerous, decisions on the public’s behalf.
Please rethink your position on the upcoming slaughterhouse vote and, yes, by all means apologize to whichever landowner you are doing this favor for; he or she can surely visit Ellensburg, literally sniff out a good site, and set up their chop shop there.
Thanks, in advance, for your consideration
Alex McLean
Bellingham
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