OJAI : Honor Farm to Modernize its Hog Facilities

County officials want to prevent polluted water from reaching underground aquifers by modernizing hog-raising operations at the Sheriff’s Honor Farm near Ojai.

Water agencies and environmentalists in the past have claimed that nitrates from pig manure spread at the farm were seeping into nearby aquifers, Sheriff’s Cmdr. Dante Honorico said.

Those wells feed into the Ventura River, raising concerns about pollution and threats to endangered wildlife that nests and forages in the river habitat. But the changes at the honor farm should end those concerns, Honorico said.

Five new hog pens totaling 11,280 square feet will replace two aging pens, which will be demolished, he said. The new pens are designed to divert waste from the hogs into flushing gutters, Honorico said.

In addition, honor farm workers will adhere to stringent rules limiting the amount of manurespread over the pasture, he said. Other improvements, such as installation of trailer-type classrooms and construction of a greenhouse, are also planned.

The honor farm is a minimum-security facility that houses about 212 men and women serving time for nonviolent offenses. Inmates care for 50 cattle and 1,300 pigs on the farm, Honorico said.

Besides improving its livestock operations, the Sheriff’s Department is asking for permission to more than double the inmate population. But Honorico said it is not likely the farm will ever fill its barracks with 460 inmates. “We just want to be ready in case we start to see an increase in the inmate population,” he said.

The proposal, which requires a zoning change from agricultural to open space, was approved by the county’s Planning Commission recently. It is expected to come before the Board of Supervisors for final approval Dec. 6, said Honorico, who is supervising the project.

Honorico said he has no preliminary estimate on the total cost of the project. But at least $17,000 will be spent to build a road leading to classrooms used by the inmates and to supply the farm with fire hydrants, he said.

A $65,000 barn where sows give birth is being built and paid for by the Oxnard High Union School District. Teachers from the district will instruct inmates on how to raise the livestock, Honorico said.

Money to pay for the project will come out of the Sheriff Department’s general fund, he said.