Davenport, Iowa — Scott County officials are working their way through the final approvals for Crop Production Services (CPS) to locate on four acres of rezoned land a 30,000 gallon anhydrous ammonia tank that has been the focus of opposition from a few neighbors concerned over safety and traffic problems and other issues. Many farmers, however, welcome the competition and additional source of ammonia. “It makes good sense to have a distribution facility in the area,” offered Mike Holst, Scott County Farm Bureau president, who noted that in some cases it has meant hauling the product 50-70 miles. County Planning Specialist Brian McDonough described the property as simply farm land owned by a farmer but not currently in crop production. The residential properties are located on farm strips owned by non-farmers, and are pretty widely scattered. “Mostly their concerns are about safety and the possibilities of evacuation if there should be an accident,” McDonough explained. “There’re also traffic concerns about tanks being towed into the area and there could be an accident.” McDonough said the next step is for the board of supervisors to vote on the rezoning and site plan approval. They will need two readings or votes to make this official. Their next scheduled meeting is set for Jan. 17; if they approve the first reading at this meeting, they could finalize the decision with a second reading at their Jan. 31 meeting. Thereafter, CPS can begin construction. CPS, facing community opposition, initially pulled its plans for the new storage tank last fall (GM Sept. 24, 2012, p. 10), but renewed its efforts later in the fall (GM Nov. 12, 2012, p. 10).
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