KANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT BILL GRAVES, GOVERNOR Gary R. Mitchell, Secretary

October 20, 1997

Contact: Don Brown

913-296-1529

Public Hearing Planned on Feedlot Waste Permit

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment today announced it will conduct a public hearing on a draft water pollution control permit for Murphy Family Farms Wildcat Farm near Jetmore. The proposed facility calls for confined feeding of 14,300 head, or 5,720 animal units, of swine.

The public hearing will be November 24 at 7:00 p.m. at the King Center, 1312 Main Street in Jetmore.

"While many of the comments on the draft permit addressed issues which KDHE is not the controlling legal authority, the department will conduct a public hearing to provide citizens with the opportunity to address environmental issues regulated by KDHE," said Gary R. Mitchell, KDHE Secretary. Because of the extraordinary level of interest, Secretary Mitchell will serve as the hearing officer for the hearing.

The department put the draft permit on public notice June 26. The department has received several hundred letters regarding it.

Persons wishing to comment on the proposed permit may do so at the public hearing or may submit written statements to the department at the address below by November 20.

The public may request copies of the permit application, draft permit and other pertinent documents by writing to the: Industrial Programs Section, Bureau of Water, Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Forbes Field, Building 283, Topeka, KS 66620-0001. Copying fees will be assessed for each request.

The Secretary of KDHE will make a final permit decision after consideration of all requirements of state statutes and regulations and comments received during the public notice and public hearing process.