Evening star., 1936-11-11
AbattOir

Continued From First Page.)
Planning Commission. The latter
also Is chairman of the American
Planning and Civic Association,
which. through its Committee of One
Hundred on the Federal City, has
taken leading part in the fight to
block issuance Of the abattoir permit.
Developments Harm Feared.
Their chief reasons for opposing
the projected slaughter house opera
tons are based on the grounds that
such a nuisance industry" would be
harmful to the public parks in the
vicinity and projected low-cost hous-
ing developments. The site of the
proposed meat rendering business is
near Benning road and Kenilworth
avenue, opposite the Benning viaduct.
Nolen's report gave it as his
opinion:
Il. That the testimony presented
to the committee indicated that the
design of the plant, the volume of
business transacted. the varied activi-
ties and the methods Of operation
inevitably necessary to the transpor-
tation. holding, killing and disposal
OF 5000 hogs. cattle and sheep per
week would per Sc create a public
nuisance from one or more sources.
2. That the inspection of the plant
in Baltimore indicated that the same
activities on the scale proposed for
the Gobel plant would probably create
q public nuisance under the conditions
Of location and the psysical and at
mospheric environment obtaining at
the site of the proposed Gobel plant
ia Washington.
g. That the known experience Of
other cities leads to the further con-
clusion that even though the existence
of a nuisance in any particular in
stance may be mitigated by special
conditions surrounding an existing
abattoir, packing and rendering plant.
the fact remains that these cities
have either prohibited the enlarge
ment or new construction of such
plants entirely or have adopted the
most rigid restrictions as to their To-
cation and the operations conducted.
This very fact, based upon first-hand
experience, proves that the character
istics of such an industry are in
evitably Objectionable and a nuisance.
In fact, such industries have been rec
ognized legally as nuisances per Sc
under certain conditions Of environ
ment."
Standards Here Higher.
He recounted the various Federal
improvements and expenditures in
the abbatoir area and then argued:
THE existence of nuisance may be
relatively more obvious in certain
cases. The District Of Columbia was
established for the sole purpose of
providing seat of government for
the United States and as result the
standards established by law and reg
ulation are. on the whole, recognized
as desirably higher than in most COM
munities.
with these public interests at stake,
in addition to those of private property
owner, it it difficult to conceive Of an
abattoir with its necessary stock pens.
casing and rendering (blood and fer
tilizer) being conducted in such a
manner as not to lead inevitably to a
public nuisance. If that be the case,
the granting Of the permit for the
abattoir would place the Commission
ers in the position of having tacitly
allowed the Gobel Co. to make a sub
stantial investment in the face of a
very reasonable doubt that it could
operate such plant without nuisance.
rs it not. therefore, a more proper
and consistent policy in the public in
terest. for the Commissioners to refuse
to grant this permit, and If the COM
pany then so desires, let the court
decide whether, upon competent testi-
mony, the action of the Commissioners
can be sustained"
The committee of District ofiicials,
headed by DR.. Ruhland, urged in its
report that the District Zoning Com
mission give immediate consideration
to an amendment to the zoning regu-
lations to prohibit establishment or
enlargement of abattoirs in the Dis
trict unless the approval of the Zoning
Commission was given.
The commissioners yesterday con-
sidered, but did not act on the report
of the Rutland Committee. Members
of that group told the commissioners
they felt there was no alternative" Z"
but to issue permits for the erection
of four three-story buildings and the
remodeling of sausage mafiufactur-
ing plant, provided certain require
ments were met.
The committee would require that
certain sewage features of the plant
must meet the approval of the di-
rector Of sanitary engineering; that
plumbing plans must be approved by
the director of sanitary engineering
and the Bureau Of Animal Industry,
Agriculture Department; that manure
bins must be water and 1y tight, and
that grease tanks must pass certain
requirements.
Two Phases to Inquiry.
THE committee has concerned it
self primarily with two questions" I"
the Commissioners were told. First,
whether the character and quantity Of
the water and waste matter will be In.
troduced BY this plant into the sani-
tary sewer will create.a nuisance either
In the sewer itself or st the sewage