State offers E. Ind. hog farm deal over fish kill

RIDGEVILLE, Ind. (AP) — An eastern Indiana hog farm tied to a large fish kill would plant more than 500 trees as an air emissions buffer and pay a $5,000 fine under a settlement proposed by the state environmental agency.

State officials say Aaron Chalfant Farms sprayed 200,000 gallons of hog manure onto a field upstream of the June 2010 fish kill near the Randolph County town of Ridgeville. An estimated nearly 108,000 fish died in the Mississinewa River and a tributary.

The Star Press reports the proposed order doesn't blame the farm with 4,000 hogs for the fish kill.

Department of Environmental Management spokesman Barry Sneed says the agency can't discuss the settlement until the farm owner agrees to it.

Chalfant says the incident has been blown out of proportion.