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$20M egg farm with 4 million chickens topic of meeting in Darke County

The Ohio Department of Agriculture hosted a meeting Tuesday night about the Golden Heritage Egg Farm in Allen Twp.

The farm is waiting on a permit to build and operate a $20 million facility that will have four million chickens in six barns and two buildings for manure storage.

News Center 7's Molly Koweek tells us the community's concerns and the company's response.

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Some Darke County residents say they don’t want the farm.

“I don’t want it here, go somewhere where no one live,” Rossburg resident Jessie Penix said.

Penix is also worried about her water and home life.

“With the water, I’m very concerned. We’re all on wells here, we all have individual wells, so are we going to run out?” she said. “I’m going to see it, I’m going to smell it.”

Officials say they’ve been working with experts to ensure it won’t affect the neighbors.

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“We’ve been doing well tests, understanding what we can do as far as having enough water as far as making sure we have enough water to make sure we’re not affecting our neighbors at all,” said Cassie Jo Arend of Golden Heritage Egg Farm.

“We have a woods right there, so the ventilation from the barns will be going directly into a wooded area, which provides a natural filtration.”

In about two weeks, the ODA will release a written response based on the public comments. After that, we’ll find out whether the permit gets approved.

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