Suburbia and Pig Farms: It Stinks

"Tewksbury (MA) may be a picturesque New England town, but a fight over a pig farm's stench has the community in an uproar, frustrating public officials and turning neighbors into bitter enemies."

"Today, one of the largest pig farms in the state sits in the midst of a growing suburban community of 30,000. Pigs live in neighborhoods where sport utility vehicles rule and backyard swimming pools are increasingly the norm. At Krochmal Farm, named for farmers who tilled the land generations ago, more than 900 pigs live in a barn perched atop a 500,000 gallon manure pit, all of which sits a light breeze away from vast tracts of ranch houses and minimansions."

"'We have a unique situation here,' said state Senator Susan Tucker, Democrat of Andover, who is leading an effort to regulate the farms. 'When families can't go outside on hot summer days, something is wrong.'"

"With Tucker's backing, and in the absence of state rules governing pig farms, a group of residents has banded together to petition for stricter rules for swine farmers. Residents will have to vote on the measure - the first of its kind in Massachusetts - Oct. 2. The petition will then need approval by the state Legislature, even though it will affect only Tewksbury."

"Some complaints come from residents at a luxury subdivision next to the farm, even though the people who live there signed a legal document recognizing the farm's existence at the time of purchase and the pig farm was there long before the residents."