Residents have until the end of this week to submit comments or ask questions regarding potential environmental impacts of three proposed chicken houses in Salley.
A public notice ran in the Aiken Standard in May indicating the Farm Service Agency was requested to provide financial assistance for the construction of three new broiler houses, with all related equipment. The notice states the houses will have a total capacity of 108,000 birds at any given time, and will be located at 899 Williamson Road in Salley on approximately 128 acres. This area is already surrounded by poultry houses within 1,325 feet in all directions, the notice states.
Steve Slice, both the farm loan program specialist and the environmental coordinator for the Farm Service Agency in Columbia, said the federal agency, which is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, does lend money to farmers and guarantee loans that banks make to farmers for financial assistance.
Slice said anytime the federal government offers financial assistance for any type of construction operation, that project is subject to the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires the agency to look at not property value, but natural and cultural resources. That includes wetlands, flood plains, scenic areas, historic and archaeological sites, natural landmarks and endangered species.
"It is a process, and by the time we're through we put a document together, about an inch thick, and most of the time, we conclude that the use doesn't have adverse effects," Slice said. " ... Once we collect all of the information and get comments back from the public and from the Historical Preservation Office, and they (applicant) gets permits from DHEC (S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control) we will publish a final notification to say whether or not we concluded any issues."
Aiken County Council member Kathy Rawls, who represents the proposed location, said she does not have a "problem with these chicken houses nor have I heard from anyone in the community who has objections."
All comments should be directed to the Agency's Farm Loan Officer Bud Sarvis in the Barnwell County Office either at 100 Fuldner Road, Barnwell, S.C. 29812, or by calling 803-259-7143.
Maayan Schechter is the local government reporter with Aiken Standard. An Atlanta native, she has a mass communications-journalism degree with the University of North Carolina Asheville. Follow her on Twitter @MaayanSchechter.