MEDIA ALERT – Tonopah Residents Petition for Clint Hickman Withdrawal from Maricopa County Air & Environmental Issues

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Industrial ag executive & Board of Supervisors chair in conflict-of-interest with community health decisions; STOPP cites ongoing EPA Clean Air Act inquiry of Hickman Family Farms

WHAT:         The community group STOPP (Save Tonopah Oppose Poultry Plant) will deliver a signed petition during public comments at the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors meeting demanding that Board chairman Clint L. Hickman (District 4) disqualify himself from all further air quality & environmental decision-making to avoid further conflicts of interest. 

County residents will assemble before the meeting to demonstrate & educate on the local health, environmental & economic impacts created by the massive Hickman operation.

WHEN:         Wednesday, September 21, 2016 | 9:30am PT

WHERE:       Supervisors’ Auditorium, 205 W. Jefferson, Phoenix, AZ 85003

 

FROM THE PETITION:

Supervisor Hickman’s family business, Hickman’s Family Farms, is a large-scale, industrial egg production corporation that is believed to be a major source of local environmental pollution and a public health risk to Maricopa County communities causing valid concerns over suspected noncompliance with environmental laws, including the violation of air pollution regulations

FACTS:

  • Hickman’s Desert Pride facility currently houses more than 4 million laying hens. It will eventually reach nearly 10 million birds at an industrial-scale operation comprised of 28 laying houses, 2 processing plants and a total of 4 egg production wastewater ponds.
  • The industrial-scale wastewater basins will be 6 feet deep and run nearly twice the length of a football field (540 ft), storing more than 3 million gallons of contaminated liquid open to the environment and the community.
  • The Hickman facility stands within a few hundred feet of Tonopah residences, businesses and natural hot springs, threatening air quality, water safety, public health, the local economy and the use, enjoyment and value of surrounding properties.

 

For more information, contact:    

Dan Mack, STOPP Inc., macks405@sbcglobal.net | 916-759-4291

Steve Masar, Socially Responsible Agricultural Project, media@sraproject.org | 415-420-7527