The city of Hardin, Mont., will not be a site for horse processing plant development, thanks to an ordinance that forbids the location of high-volume slaughter operations within the city limits. The Hardin City Council passed the ordinance last month. It went into effect April 16.

The ordinance amends the city's zoning code to prohibit the development of any slaughter facility that processes more than 25 animals during any seven-day period on grounds that processing more than that number of animals would overwhelm the city's existing waste water treatment facilities.

Hardin City Attorney Robert Snively denied that the ordinance responds directly to the passage of HB 418 last year. That measure promotes privately owned horse processing plant development in Montana. It also insulates prospective plant developers from permit and licensing challenges on environmental and other grounds.

HB 418 sponsor Rep. Ed Butcher said he and prospective developers visited a potential plant site in Hardin in January, but disqualified the site because water treatment infrastructure was inadequate