Chicken facility proposed for area near Castalia

An area north of Castalia is being proposed for a chicken confinement facility which could house up to 200,000 chickens.A permit application, which has been applied for by Sholom Rubashkin under the name of Cottonballs Poultry Barns, would be designed to hold up to 49,999 broilers in each barn. Rubashkin is the manager of Agriprocessors, Inc. in Postville, which is owned by his father Aaron Rubashkin.

Animal confinement projects of this magnitude are evaluated through a state mandated scoring system. According to the Winneshiek County Sanitarian a master matrix scoring system is used in the approval system. Approved projects must pass in the areas of water, air and community impact. It has been reported by the engineering firm of Bolton and Menk out of Ames, that the proposed facility received a score of 450 which is the score needed for approval.

A public hearing may be held by the Winneshiek County Board of Supervisors before a final approval is granted. The Sanitarian was scheduled to meet with the Board of Supervisors earlier this week.