Very recently, concerned residents surrounding the Alum Springs Convenience Center found out that Boyle County Fiscal Court has approved a plan to compost livestock at the Alum Springs site.  According to The Advocate-Messenger, a special meeting with farmers was conducted on March 3 in Perryville, the original proposed site for the composting center.  

One magistrate expressed his concerns about a historic spring near the proposed property and didn’t want runoff to affect that water source, which runs into the Chaplin River. More importantly, according to the newspaper article, it said that Steve Higgins from the University of Kentucky had inspected two potential sites in Boyle County — Alum Springs Convenience Center and Perryville Convenience Center — in February, and determined that the Alum Springs location did not meet standards, but the Perryville location did.

The community of Perryville pushed back and it was decided that they would not put in the composting center.

Now, because they have been dropped, Alum Springs has been picked up? How is that possible if it doesn’t meet standards? 

The site for the Alum Springs composting center is at the head of Clark’s Run with many springs coming off the site into Alum Springs Creek which runs from Alum Springs road to KY Hwy 34 and into Danville. We are very concerned about the safety of the springs, groundwater and the overall watershed in this area with the decomposition of the animals, the odor and possibility of diseased animals.

We were told that as many as eight cattle a day could be dropped there. If that is so, we are looking at between 360-2,880 cattle per year being disposed of at the site. We were not told of any limit.

In another Advocate Messenger article on March 17, it said that five people from the Boyle County JudgeExecutive’s office met at the Franklin County livestock composting site in early March. I’m sorry but going to a composting site in cool weather does not compare to the hot summer months! 

Local residents should not have to bear the brunt of the farmers’ business of disposing of their dead animals. We believe the county government should have involved us residents in their discussions.

Surely another solution or location can be found so as not to effect Clark’s Run watershed. In fact, the Stanford landfill allows dead animals.

Karen Sherwood

Danville