GALENA, Ill. -- The courtroom door opened, and they trailed out.
Some walked alone. Most shuffled away in groups. Others hung back, hovering near the doors with signs reading, "$old out by $acia" (a rebuke of Illinois state Rep. Jim Sacia) pinned to their chests.
Regardless of how they left, all of the nearly 100 opponents to the estimated 10,000-cow dairy operations near Nora exited the Jo Daviess County Courthouse in Galena, with the same mixed emotions.
Disappointment ran high.
Circuit Court Judge Kevin Ward had not granted the opponents a preliminary injunction that would have halted construction of California businessman A.J. Bos' dairy.
Yet hope still managed to surge.
Ward hadn't ruled against an injunction, either.
Friday's hearing was the latest in an eight-month battle to stifle Bos' efforts to build what the opposition deems a "mega-dairy."
The non-profit organization, Helping Others Maintain Environmental Standards, or HOMES, and more than 20 individual plaintiffs say that the dairy could pose hazards to neighbors' health, suffocate local dairy operations and ruin the family farming lifestyle the Jo Daviess County township of little more than 100 has come to love.
An expert on the subject agreed with at least one of their claims.
For the past 20 years, Sam Panno, a geologist with the Illinois State Geological Survey, has studied karsts -- a section of land that has cracked and formed sinkholes or caverns that allow surface contaminants to drain into the underlying aquifers that provide drinking water.
During his two hours of testimony, Panno said that three vital things are wrong with the Bos dairy site:
* The dairy sits on an aquifer.
* If manure spilled or leaked from the ponds containing the dairy's waste, it would sink into the aquifer.
* The contaminants would then rush along the aquifer and eventually end up in area wells.
Several times throughout the testimony, Bos' attorney, Tom Nack, objected. He argued that Panno's observations were not made at the site in question and that Panno's opinions were speculative and lacked relevance.
Each time Nack objected, the opponents -- including the more than a dozen who were forced to stand in the packed courtroom -- bristled. At one point, when Nack said he was unavailable for a particular court date, an attendee said he thought Nack was "stalling," and those near him murmured in agreement.
Supporters of the dairy also attended the hearing, scheduled to start at 1 p.m. and lasting until the court closed at 4 p.m.
Witnesses sat behind Nack and Allan Abinoja, the attorney for the Illinois Department of Agriculture, also a defendant in the matter. And Bos sat quietly throughout the testimony.
Bos owns a 50,000-cow operation in California and wanted to expand the operation to Illinois. In June, he received permission from the Illinois Department of Agriculture to start construction, despite heated opposition.
Once the plaintiffs' attorney, David Albee, finished questioning Panno, Ward said the court considered it a good time for a break. The defense will cross-examine Panno at the next hearing.
Nine more witnesses are scheduled to testify before Ward can decide to grant a preliminary injunction. Ward said he expects the hearing needs at least another full day in court.
The three scheduled hearing dates are: July 29 at 1 p.m.; Aug. 12 at 1 p.m; and Aug. 15 at 9 a.m.
HOMES member Matthew Alschuler said if the ruling about temporarily halting construction is in the group's favor, members will have more time to obtain information and research what eventually could lead to a permanent ban.
If the judge rules for the dairy and production continues, the operation -- which plans show as two neighboring sites -- will be the largest in Illinois and could generate as much as $400,000 in property taxes.
