Posted: Saturday, December 17, 2016 12:00 pm
Staff Report news@harrisondaily.com | 0 comments
The Buffalo River Watershed Alliance Inc. has reviewed the drilling report provided by Harbor Environmental that details results of the single hole that was drilled at C&H Hog Farm on Sept. 21 through Sept. 23.
The hole was drilled due to concerns raised initially by members of the Big Creek Research and Extension Team who noted a possible “major fracture and movement of waste” near the ponds.
However, neither Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, the Pollution Control and Ecology Commission, nor the public was made aware of this concern until over a year later when BRWA brought it to their attention. Only then did ADEQ decide to proceed with a limited drilling investigation, a press release said.
Harbor presented a summary of the drilling report to the public on Dec. 1 in which the public was not allowed to comment or ask questions.
The 540-plus page drilling report was not made available until after the presentation, allowing no opportunity for BRWA or the public to review or seek clarification. The public was directed to submit all questions or comments in writing to the ADEQ website by Dec. 9. ADEQ in response to public requests, did extend the deadline for submitting informed questions until Dec. 16.
“We are concerned that in spite of ADEQ’s assurances of improved transparency concerning the C&H Hog Farm, the public is being prevented from seeking clarification by asking questions directly of Harbor,” BRWA president Gordon Watkins said.
Watkins also said the group’s website at http://buffaloriveralliance.org/resources/Pictures/Drilling%20Report%20Questions.pdf contains questions submitted to ADEQ.
Ellen Corley of BRWA noted, “Thankfully, the sampling results do not appear to show contamination of ground water in this drilled hole. However, the report by geologist Tai Hubbard hired by ADEQ as an independent observer of the investigation, clearly noted multiple limitations of the study, not the least of which was that it provided for only a single drilled hole.”
“Other questions concern the apparent void detected at a depth that closely corresponds to the depths of the pond floors. The void was detected during drilling and again when difficulty was encountered while sealing up the hole above a depth of 25 feet below the ground. Water for lubricating the drilling process was lost at this depth and the final grouting of the shaft required almost 50 percent more in cement than what the driller had calculated. The report provided little discussion regarding this seemingly significant karst feature. The report and the cores show that karst is indicated throughout most of the 120-foot range of the drilled shaft. Contrary to the earlier Environmental Assessment of the site, this facility and its waste ponds are clearly sitting atop karst.”
Jack Stewart of BRWA went on to say, “Our questions are the result of a hurriedly prepared analysis of a fairly lengthy report. We continue to ask ADEQ why they have chosen to force the pubic to respond in such a short timeframe. We have communicated to ADEQ that our efforts to correlate various field notes, data, photos, and interpretation will result in questions whose answers will naturally elicit follow-on questions. We have emphatically requested that ADEQ provide for an interactive public question and answer session with Harbor Environmental. Dr. Joe Nix of Ouachita Baptist University, who performed some of the investigation’s data analysis, said it best: ‘When you close the door on questions, that only raises questions. That is not how science is done.’”