Residents speak out against egg farm

TIFFIN — Members of the community showed up to voice their concerns about a proposed poultry facility being constructed near Tiffin at a public hearing held by the Ohio Department of Agriculture Monday. Originally, the meeting was set to take place inside of the youth building at the Seneca County Fairgrounds, but the building reached capacity before the meeting was able to begin. Leading the meeting was Sam Mullins, chief of the Division of Livestock for ODA, who began by explaining the purpose of the hearing as well as explaining how the hearing would proceed. Citizens were given up to three minutes to speak following an introduction. Mullins said he, as representative from the ODA, would not respond to any comments that night. Several of the concerns raised at the hearing had previously been mentioned at either recent Tiffin City Council meetings or Seneca County commissioners meetings. Primarily, residents questioned the impact the facility will have on water quality in the surrounding area. Chris Kurts, who lives near the street from the proposed facility, claimed the average home in Seneca County uses approximately 300 gallons of water per day. He said the poultry facility would likely use the equivalent of 27 residential homes' worth of water in a day. He continued, questioning what sort of impact the new entity would have on nearby residents' wells. "If this facility were to move forward, and residents were required to start having their wells tested annually, who is going to pay for that?" he asked. Jude Overmeyer, another resident who lives in close to the proposed facility site, raised concerns surrounding avian flu, as well as the facility's potential threat to the local bald eagle population. "As of April 2025, there have already been 70 avian HPAI outbreaks reported," said Overmeyer. She continued, sharing that not only does HPAI pose a significant threat to the chickens at the proposed facility, but also to a nearby long-established bald eagle nest. Another resident, Glenn Gillig, seconded Overmeyer's concerns. "The bald eagle's nest previously mentioned was one of the first in the county, and you couldn't even canoe down the river nearby," said Gillig. "Now, they want to let an entire facility be built?" Rachel Hemminger, another nearby resident, alleged that Seneca Poultry LLC has already violated some of the guidelines in place that the organization claims will keep them accountable. "On June 4, a pre-construction meeting was held with the ODA where Mr. (John) Bolte was reminded to not build before obtaining the correct final permits — as noted in the meeting minutes. On June 11, the ODA received a complaint that Seneca Poultry LLC began construction without a permit," she said. "ODA Engineer Patrick Bailey called facility operator John Bolte, who confirmed that in anticipation of receiving their final permit, they had begun some initial site work," she added. Additionally, on June 16 Bailey visited the site to investigate, and observed that some initial site work had been completed. "Bailey also noted there was not a silt bed installed at this time," said Hemminger. Hemminger proposed that if the facility is struggling to fall in line with the guidelines already in place before it is even up and running, "what is stopping the facility from continuing to ignore the in-place regulations?" More than 20 residents spoke at the meeting.