A proposed new livestock trailer truck washout operation in Grand Island raised concerns from the community at Tuesday’s Hall County Board of Commissioners meeting.
A public hearing was held for a conditional use permit request from MidAmerica Washout.
The company, based in Dodge City, Kansas, aims to use lagoons formerly owned by Bosselman Enterprises at 4009 Wood River West in Grand Island.
A similar conditional use permit request from MidAmerica was rejected by Grand Island City Council on July 12, as reported by The Independent.
Hall County Board of Commissioners also rejected the company’s permit request in 2016.
At Tuesday’s public hearing, owner Chad Ruda emphasized the permit request is only for use of the lagoons, which would be refurbished, and said MidAmerica would be building a new facility in the area, which is already zoned for that use.
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Attorney Stephen Mossman of Mattson Ricketts Law Firm in Lincoln, representing MidAmerica, explained Tuesday that the company is asking the county’s permission to “refurbish and use the existing Bosselman Travel Center lagoons.”
“They’ve been in place since the late 1990s. There’s been a series of conditional use permits for those lagoons issued by this board,” he said. “Importantly, the trailer wash out itself is going to be within the city zoning jurisdiction if approved, so there won’t be any increased truck traffic on West Wood River Road, which I know has been an issue in the past.”
Community members for more than 90 minutes Tuesday voiced concerns about the new facility ranging from odor to traffic, and especially environmental impact.
Jolene Bockmann of Grand Island said she is not against Ruda or his business, emphasizing that the problem is its location.
“The whole area should be protected and valued for the natural resources that are present there. That’s important to us,” she said. “It’s about protecting our waterways and our groundwater and our soil.”
Bockmann said the lagoons are out of service for a reason.
“They failed over and over again,” she said. “As a community member, watching this happen and not having any accountability throughout this process has been extremely difficult.”
The pits have been in violation for 10 years, Bockmann claimed, providing such documents to the county board.
“The damage has been done,” she said. “You can see it in the photos.”
A concern is that MidAmerica would not be held accountable for any further damages, said Bockmann.
Dave Hoffman, a Doniphan farmer, argued that problems will happen.
“He said this is organic material that’s going into there. That’s wrong,” he said. “Anybody who raises cattle, when you ship your yearlings out, you load them up on medicated feed, and it’s on the floor of those trailers and going into those waste pits. You’ve basically got a biohazard storage facility. And this facility at some point is going to fail.”
It is not a matter of if, but when, said Hoffman, as liners do not last.
“They do fail,” he said. “Look at the geographic area where this is. It’s not even a quarter mile from the river. Your wellhead is on Indian Island, and that channel goes right by your wellhead. If there’s ever a problem, you’ve got issues with your drinking water.”
He added, “With Grand Island growing at the rate it is, where are you going to place your wells once that’s contaminated?”
Chad Ruda explained that the new washout is an expansion of an existing business he has been operating for more than 15 years, and had its first location in Fremont.
“I care about the people who are opposing me and I care about the people who are coming to me wanting me to do this. I care about everybody and I feel like I’m stuck in the middle, trying to make everybody happy,” he said. “I apologize to anybody who’s against me today. I’m not trying to ruin your life. I’m just trying to provide a business that’s needed to a customer base that I have.”
No action was taken Tuesday as County Commissioners felt they needed more time to review materials and documents related to the permit request.
The item will be brought before the board at their Nov. 22 meeting for further discussion.
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