A Walker Township egg farm has planned its next course of action to expand its business.

Heisler's Egg Farm intends to submit an application to the Department of Environmental Protection for the update of an existing NPDES permit for a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation.The permit application will include all existing facilities, as well as the proposed construction of two additional layer barns designed to house 324,000 chickens, and one additional manure storage building designed to contain 72,000 cubic feet.The application will be submitted under the provisions of the Clean Stream Law.In May, the township's zoning hearing board attempted to conduct a hearing on two requests from Heisler's. The operation is located at 757 Valley Road, Tamaqua, Walker Township.At that time, Heisler's had applied to the township zoning hearing board and sought a special exception to exceed allowed animal units per acre, and a variance to expand more than 25 percent.But the hearing never got that far because some residents said neighboring property owners had not been property notified of the plan. The hearing was continued until June 29, but that hearing was canceled because the application was withdrawn by Heisler's.Heisler's is located in an enhanced agriculture zoning district; intensive agriculture is defined as exceeding "three animal units per acre" and is only allowed on properties which are 25 acres and larger. Heisler's Egg Farm is located on a 55-acre tract. An animal unit is equal to 1,000 pounds.For additional information, contact Jedd Moncavage, TeamAg Inc., 120 Lake St., Ephrata, PA 17522. To comment on this application, contact DEP at Northeast Regional Office, Watershed Management Program, Permits Section, 2 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701, 570-826-2511.