Jack and Carlotta Arnold are an elderly couple who have lived on their farm since 1976. It is property that has been in Carlotta’s family for over 100 years.
Since the hog CAFO moved in to their area around 1994, its 13,125 sows and boars and 24,000 nursery pigs have produced over 58 million gallons of waste per year, and the Arnold’s lives have been changed. Family and social functions, outdoor activities and recreation have been interfered with due to the unbearable stench which forces the Arnolds and their guests to remain indoors. This odor, at times, causes extreme discomfort and stress. The odor comes from multiple sources, the hog buildings, the open cesspools in which the hog waste is stored, and the fields upon which the untreated waste is eventually applied.
At times the odor or gas is so strong that their eyes and noses burn and Jack’s asthma is aggravated. The Arnolds are reluctant to invite guests and/or family, including grandchildren, to outdoor cookouts because they can not predict what odor may come. Before the CAFO, Boy Scouts used the Arnold property for campouts and other activities. They are now reluctant to make such plans due to the odor and other air pollutants that come from the CAFO.
Swarming infestation of flies, loss of birds and other wildlife are other aspects of the Arnolds’ loss of the use and enjoyment of their property.
