Bekah Porter of the Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA) online writes “the final piece of the plaintiff’s puzzle was placed into evidence” last week in the injunction trial between a nonprofit environmental group and dairyman A.J. Bos, who was planning on opening up a large-scale dairy operation in Illinois.
The injunction is being sought by the group Helping Others Maintain Environmental Standards (HOMES). Last week, HOMES attorneys presented their final witness, engineer scientist and consultant, Pete Huettl. According to Porter’s article, Huettl told the court that:
· The inspection of the site conducted by the defense was
· The clay liner for the containment ponds “expected to hold millions of gallons of animal waste are ‘inadequate’ and will leak as much as 5 million gallons of waste into the
ground.”
· The soil will not prevent the waste from permeating further into the earth’s core, which “is considered geographically unsound.”
Previously in the week, Bos’defense attorney took issue with Illinois State Geological Survey geologist Sam Panno’s testimony that “the site of Bos' proposed dairy sat atop a karst area, which he described as an unstable geographical area with cracks in an underlying aquifer. The attorney particularly criticized Panno for not performing scientific tests on the site.” Following Wednesday’s testimony HOMES believed their case had “come full circle.”
As HOMES press manager Matthew Alschuler stated on the testimony and the case put forward by the plaintiffs, ‘“It shows the entire chain of events that could happen . . . We have Huettl saying that the waste will leak into the ground. Then we have a geologist saying that the ground will allow the waste to leak right into the underlying aquifer. And then we have two doctors saying that if the waste gets into the aquifer, it will be hazardous to the health of the entire community.”’
It is now up to the defense to present its arguments.
To read Porter’s article click here.
