The "So Who Would You Side With?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading about a farmer's plan to build a 40,000 duck barn on his property in Colerain Township, Lancaster County.  Seems that his neighbors aren't too keen on the idea so they complained to the local officials who recently halted the construction of the duck barn.  But, what are the chances that the farmer will forget about his idea and plant something on the acreage.  The farmer, Dwayne Peifer, is likely to appeal the decision.  It was about a month or so ago that Mr. Peifer outlined his plan for the property in the 500 block of Mount Eden Road.  His land is now zoned for agricultural uses with a special exception needed before a barn could be built for a concentrated animal feeding operation.  

Mr. Peifer's land he wants to convert to a duck barn.

His neighbors say he failed to tell how he would handle the manure production that can contribute to both air and water pollution.  Those pollutants could threaten both human and environmental health as well as extremely offensive odors and dust.  Mr. Peifer said that he intended to follow all local, state and federal regulations.  Only problem is that the leaders at the nearby Chester Water Authority issued a public letter warning of potential threats to local water bodies, including the downstream Octoraro Reservoir which is a source of drinking water for Chester and Delaware counties.  Well, a vote was held and Mr. Peifer is going to have to do some more research and report back once again before he can continue on with his idea.  Seems it was the property's proximity to Gables Run and the water supply that was too much for the people in charge who withheld the permit to begin construction of the building.  Mr. Peifer replied that the locals need to come to terms with the fact that they chose to live in and near an area designated for farming.  He told them that for him to produce a product for them to eat, there is going to be some smell.  Animals produce manure...it's part of the process.  As of right now, the new building for the ducks is on hold.  Now, on another note about raising ducks...a local newspaper writer, Jack Brubaker, aka "The Scribbler" recently wrote a story about his youth while living on...of all places...a duck farm.  

"The Scribbler's" duck collection.

He said that the county's largest duck farm shut down in 1961.  How did he remember that fact from way back then?  Well, he happened to live on it!  It had 100,000 ducks and was housed at Beechdale in Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania.  And...I didn't make that up!  He said he lived on the duck farm from birth until the last quack faded from the banks of Mill Creek.  So, he knows a thing or two about the subject.  He knows about the vast slick of manure as well as the constant babble that the ducks produce.  Back when he lived on the farm, environmental regulations were loose.  Now, his family didn't have 40,000 ducks in one building.  They kept them in multiple duck houses according to age and stage of development.  His family's ducks preferred to spend their time wadding around outside in fenced pens, some of which bordered the creek.  Water and feed troughs ran through each house complex.  Mr. Peifer does plan to keep his ducks in his one large duck house.  The Scribler went on to say that the sound from the ducks was like a forest of locusts, but 100 times louder and 1,000 times sillier.  His great-grandfather, who started the duck farm, told visitors to the farm that he sold every part of the duck except the quack!  The people currently living around the new proposed location wouldn't have to endure the noise of 100,000 ducks, but they might smell the manure of 40,000 ducks.  But, Mr. Peifer's new place would allegedly have workers who would transfer manure from the duck barn to a concrete storage structure.  That manure would be spread as fertilizer on nearby farm fields.  But, clean water and fresh air advocates complain that some of the manure would run off into and pollute area streams, some of which feed the Ocoraro Reservoir.  The only thing that the Colerain neighbors of Mr. Peifer have is the fact that they live in 2021 and not in 1961 when Mr. Brubaker lived on his duck farm.  Monitoring manure as well as the muting of quacking seems to have come a long way in the past 50 or more years.  It will be interesting to see what happens next!  Will the quacks win or the neighbors?  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.