Marshall County Considers Permit for Veblen East Dairy

The Veblen East Dairy in northeastern South Dakota faces another challenge today to its continued operation and pollution of the Whetstone Valley watershed. Included on the Marshall County Commission's agenda this morning is an 11 a.m. hearing to consider a conditional use permit for the "new" owners of the bankrupt Veblen East Dairy.

"New" deserves those "not really" quote marks: Vista "Family" Dairies, which bought Veblen East at less than half its value at bankruptcy auction last month, is made up mostly of the same equity owners who banked on the messy operations of Veblen East and sister dairy Veblen West over the last couple years. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

So really, the Marshall County Commission is considering issuing a conditional use permit—i.e., a special favor, an excuse to conduct operations that fall outside the normal zoning rules—to the same bunch who couldn't keep the Veblen East Dairy running properly in the first place.

A county commission acting in the interest of its constituents would use today's hearing to ask some hard questions and allow neighbors from all along the watershed to put their concerns on the public record. Let's see if that's what happens....

Update 2010.10.20 12:51 CDT: From today's Marshall County Journal:

In other business, about 20 people were present when the board approved a conditional use permit to either Vista Family Dairies, LLC or Whetstone Valley Dairy, LLC for the Veblen East Dairy Limited Partnership. The permit was requested by Lee Ann Pierce, Chapter 11 bankruptcy trustee ["Board Hires Deputy Auditor," Marshall County Journal, 2010.10.20].