Help Us Build Ethical Rural Trust

Hubert Brumett, a 93 year old WWII veteran, is our hero. He gave his all, and now it’s time to stand up for Hubert and our community. A confinement factory farm aims to raise 4,000 hogs in one building and store 1 million gallons of manure right in our backyards. 485 homes are with 3 miles of the CAFO (Confined Animal Feeding Operation). We are fighting this CAFO with a lawsuit, and we need your help.



Here’s the full story:
This factory farm threatens to pollute our drinking water, spread diseases like MRSA, and make the air dangerous to breath. Air is the biggest concern for people like Hubert, who have respiratory problems including COPD. Hubert lives just 557 feet away from the proposed CAFO – that’s 250 steps. He’s lived there all of his adult life. His doctor says that the CAFO will pollute the air so much that Hubert will have to move out of his home if the CAFO is built.

 The CAFO also threatens 28 kids, 27 senior citizens, and 29 individuals with respiratory problems who live within 1 mile (all downwind). We’re not worried about smell. We’re not against agriculture – many of us are farmers. Instead, we’re fighting for our quality of life and our property rights. We’re young people who’ve just bought our first homes…and our wells are threatened. We’re new grandparents who’ve built our entire lives here…

The CAFO operators will continue to live in another town. They will not have a factory farm in their backyard, and it will not threaten their drinking water or pollute the air they breathe as they relax on their back porch.

 We’ve organized a group called HUBERT (Help Us Build Ethical Rural Trust) to fight for our community. When the CAFO applied for its permits, community members filled the courtroom to register their complaints, present studies, and tell our stories. The hearing lasted until 2am, but the board made its decision in less than five minutes. The CAFO was approved unanimously. Now, we’ve filed a lawsuit to have that decision overturned. We’ll post an update soon detailing our argument.

 We’ve invested $7,500 so far, and we know we’re going to invest more. We’re asking you to help us defeat this factory farm in our community!