County Commissioners heard two complaints on Wednesday, brought against local dairies, Hillside and Sage Hill by neighbors Jennifer Williamson and Thomas Keyes. Commissioners Greg Koenig and Justin Heath agreed that the practice of using propane cannons to disperse birds is not a nuisance in this community which is largely supported by the agriculture industry.
Hillside Dairy is owned by County Commission Chairman Pete Olsen and his brothers, therefore Olsen stepped away from the dais, recusing himself and leaving Vice-Chairman Koenig to chair the hearing.
On April 12 Williamson filed her nuisance complaint with the county against Hillside, asking county commissioners to prevent local dairies from using propane cannons in their bird control efforts. She maintains that when it comes to the cannons the Right to Farm laws at the state and county level do not apply and the cannons are injurious to health because they are indecent and offensive to the senses. Keyes filed his complaint against Sage Hill shortly after.
Procedurally, the hearing began with public comment, and a presentation by the county code enforcement officer, Loreli LeBaron regarding the county’s investigation into the nuisance complaint.
Brian Sorensen, a neighboring dairyman, said that within a mile-and-a-half radius to the Williamsons home are 12 dairies that have been there for at least the past 50 years. “Fallon has always been a very dairy-oriented community with dairy being a very important business,” he said. Doug Busselman, executive vice-president of the Nevada Farm Bureau spoke on behalf of the agriculture industry and the ability of agriculture producers to continue their enterprises after other people move in near them.
LeBaron, defined nuisance and explained the exception to the nuisance law in Nevada Revised Statutes 40.140.2 which allows for agriculture activity that was established before surrounding nonagricultural activities. As part of her investigation, LeBaron interviewed the neighbors of Hillside Dairy and found five of the six neighbors did not consider the noise from the cannons to be a nuisance, and in fact, several articulated that the cannons are far less offensive than the overwhelming amount of starling droppings and dead starling bodies that are a part of life without the cannons.
The complainants, Williamson and Keyes then presented evidence supporting their claims, which were answered by Olsen on behalf of Hillside Dairy and his sons, Mike and Pete Olsen, III on behalf of their dairy Sage Hill.
“We have never complained about the noise, the smell, or the flies,” said Williamson. She maintained that because the cannons had only been used in the past three years, well after she and her husband bought their place in 1999, that they should not be considered normal farm practices. She said, “Nevada lawmakers intentionally put in protection for residential homeowners against new and emerging practices which may be considered a nuisance.”
Additionally, her husband measured the cannons at 94.6 decibels and therefore any reasonable person should find them offensive to the senses. Williamson provided a video recording from inside her home, of the cannons going off at 6:30 in the morning on December 14, 2020. The video demonstrated five cannon blasts that can be heard from inside the home over a 17 second period just before sunrise. “Visitors are aghast,” she said about friends who come to her home and hear the cannons. “The propane cannons are offensive to the senses and therefore are a nuisance under Nevada law. 130-decibel cannon blast occurring over 5,000 times most days for a significant portion of the year would be considered offensive to the senses by a reasonable person.”
Keyes maintains that the cannons used at Sage Hill dairy affect his health saying, “I do have a problem with explosions.” He said the cannons cause massive blasts and people get thrown off their horses, and dogs run under the porch.
“My family has been providing milk for Nevada every day for 106 years, the last 49 years in Fallon,” said Olsen. He is proud of that and the ability of the dairy to support 40 employees. He said that because of the local dairies, there is a milk manufacturing plant in Fallon that provides 40 jobs and a plant in Reno that provides 140 jobs. His sons are fifth-generation dairy farmers.
Olsen has said that the starlings can cost local dairies over $3,000 a day in damages and lost production. He defended the use of cannons saying they are not a new practice and have been used off and on by the dairy industry in Fallon since the 1980s as a normal practice in the bird eradication efforts. He said the sheriff measured the noise level of the cannons at 45 to 50 decibels and the CDC says 55 decibels is less than normal conversation and the CDC threshold for annoyance is 70 decibels.
Commissioners deliberated briefly before passing a resolution finding that the propane cannons used at Hillside and Sage Hill dairies do not constitute a nuisance.
“To make a determination of a nuisance,” said Koenig, “courts use the definition of ‘a normal person in the community.’ I don’t have any doubt that the Williamsons find it a nuisance, but if one family feels it a nuisance, does that make it a nuisance?” He referenced the code enforcement investigation that found 83% of the people surveyed not opposed to the cannons, as well as the Williamsons’ own petition with 66 signatures in opposition, saying that in a county of 25,000 people, it is clear that the normal person in the community understands the cannons are a regular part of an agriculture operation.
Commissioner Justin Heath said a normal conversation is 60 decibels and he measured the room at about that during the hearing. “If you are at 55 decibels that’s less than what we’re doing here.” Additionally, he said that when a farmer brings in a new truck or dairy equipment that is louder than the old ones, would that become a nuisance?
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