An organization that has fought against concentrated livestock operations is alleging that a big, relatively new and growing egg farm on Oahu is a stream and ocean pollution threat.

The company, Villa Rose LLC producing Waialua Fresh brand eggs, insists that no such threat exists from the farm that began operations near Wahiawa in late 2021 and has about 150,000 cage-free hens laying eggs sold locally.

“There’s absolutely no threat,” said Michael Sencer, an executive vice president for a California- based partner in Villa Rose.

The Center for Food Safety based its pollution threat allegation on a wide-ranging February inspection report of the 318-acre farm by the state Department of Health, which noted that equipment Villa Rose has to turn chicken manure into a charcoal-like material called biochar isn’t operating regularly to process an estimated 10 tons of manure produced daily.

“Without a manure management plan, Villa Rose should not be allowed to operate,” Sylvia Wu, senior attorney for the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization, said in a statement. “The state must take immediate action to address this issue before it turns into yet another potential environmental disaster.”

The inspection report said manure is being stored in one of six empty barns on the property, part of which is separated by large earthen berms from the adjacent Mohiakea Gulch and Stream, which flows into Kaukonahua Stream leading to the ocean.

The report from the department’s Clean Water Branch did not fault Villa Rose or object to the manure storage.

Sencer said the barn, with a cement floor area almost two football fields in size, is maybe 10% to 20% filled with manure that isn’t exposed to rain or storm water runoff. He said the company is working to restart the biochar process after additional equipment can be obtained, and in the meantime awaits a permit to compost the manure, hopefully starting in the next three to six months.

“This (stockpiling) won’t be an issue anymore,” he said. “We’re being very careful. It is a lot of manure, because we have a lot of chickens.”

The problem with the biochar equipment, according to Sencer, is that the high humidity in Hawaii left the manure too wet for cooking despite aeration. Additional equipment would dry the manure before baking it into biochar.

Villa Rose, which was established by mainland chicken egg farm companies Hidden Villa Ranch and Rose Acre Farms, has said it employs about 60 people and had invested over $70 million developing the operation, which is totally solar-powered and potentially could grow to house 1 million birds with an aim to displace the 90% share of mainland eggs sold in Hawaii.

The Center for Food Safety contends that Villa Rose, which proclaims on its website that its biochar reactor turns chicken waste into safe fertilizer, has misled the public about its waste management operations and isn’t adequately addressing hen manure.

The organization also said that large “factory farms” are incompatible with Hawaii’s ecosystem.

The Center for Food Safety in 2019 won litigation against Big Island Dairy, a milk producer on Hawaii island that was forced to close because of runoff from cow waste held in open ponds. The organization has also objected to genetically modified foods, offshore fish farms and certain pesticide uses in Hawaii.

Earlier this year the Center for Food Safety was a supporter of a bill introduced at the state Legislature proposing to prohibit new and existing large concentrated animal feeding operations. The measure, Senate Bill 1585, would have prohibited renewal of existing licenses or permits for such operations to phase them out by 2028.

Center for Food Safety said Villa Rose is the only such existing operation in Hawaii. SB 1585 attracted supportive testimony from about 90 people and organizations, including animal welfare groups and rival egg suppliers. About a dozen entities, mainly livestock industry operators and supporters, submitted testimony opposing the bill.

The Senate Committee on Agriculture and Environment rejected the bill after an initial public hearing.

Villa Rose said in written testimony on the bill that it was working closely with the state Department of Health to safely manage manure produced by its egg-laying birds.

“The state already has laws in place to manage the handling of wastewater and fertilizer,” the company said. “Big Island Dairy mishandled their waste management system. Big Island Dairy had to close their operation because they failed to comply with local, state, and federal regulations. They should not become the standard for which all animal care facilities are judged.”

Testimony from the Center for Food Safety said the proposed ban would protect Hawaii’s precious environment and communities while supporting locally owned farms.

“This bill would put the interest of our community before those of large (concentrated animal feeding operations) by putting a stop to these dangerous operations, instead of trying to shut down and address pollution after it has occurred,” Wu said in written testimony.