Agency to host Dec. 1 event on manure-leak tests’ results
By Emily Walkenhorst
The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality on Dec. 1 will receive the results of a drilling study conducted at C&H Hog Farms in Mount Judea, the department said Wednesday.
The department also will host the researchers for a public presentation at 1 p.m. that day at the agency's 5301 Northshore Drive headquarters in North Little Rock.
After the presentation, the department will post the report on its website at www.adeq.state.ar.us/water/bbri/c-and-h/drilling.aspx, along with field notes, photographs and videos taken by Harbor Environmental -- the contractor hired for the project.
Researchers conducted the drilling project to detect whether one of the manure ponds had been leaking. The drilling project came about after the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance raised concerns about electroresistivity imaging research at C&H Hog Farms, which the group obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Harbor Environmental of Little Rock was hired to design the project for $75,000 and selected Cascade Drilling of Memphis as the subcontractor to carry out the drilling.
C&H's owners have allowed research to be conducted on-site for years and maintain that the farm doesn't have any problems with hog manure leaking.
C&H, near Mount Judea in Newton County, sits on Big Creek about 6 miles from where it converges with the Buffalo River. It is the only federally classified large hog farm in the river's watershed and is permitted to house up to 6,000 piglets and 2,503 sows.
The Buffalo River had 1.46 million visitors last year, the third-highest total since it became a national river and the highest since a record count of 1.55 million in 2009.
"We look forward to receiving the results of the drilling study," department Director Becky Keogh said in a statement. "We have invited Harbor to present its findings in a public venue so all interested parties will receive the data and report at the same time. I am pleased that the report has been completed a month ahead of schedule, while conforming to rigorous quality controls and assurances" that are essential to such a review.
Gordon Watkins, president of the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance, said he was glad representatives from Harbor would be available to answer questions.
"We'll be anxious to see that data and what it says," he said.
Metro on 11/24/2016
Print Headline: Hog-farm data's release date set