Buffalo River Watershed Alliance
By Mike Masterson
This article was published today at 3:54 a.m
The theme of this evening inside the jam-packed Town Center on Fayetteville's charming square could be summed up by the comments of keynote speaker Ken Smith: "We gather to celebrate and praise nature's beauty. The Buffalo National River is the work of ages, far longer than any of us can ever imagine."
And so the celebration went for a few hours the other night as nearly 400 citizens and lovers of the country's first national river gathered to share fellowship, fundraising and a meal hosted by members of the Buffalo River Coalition. That group consists of the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance, the National Parks Conservation Association, the Ozark Society and the Arkansas Canoe Club.
While the major sponsors of the four-hour silent auction and dinner were Don and Millie Nelms and Fayetteville's Advertising and Promotion Commission, the list of donors filled three pages in the program.
I don't know how much money was raised largely, I suspect, to help offset ongoing legal costs involved in combating the potential pollution of the Buffalo and its watershed from raw hog waste being continually spread onto fields along and near Big Creek, a major tributary of the Buffalo. I can assure you the event was well-supported financially and spiritually.
Emceed by Kyle Kellams, who founded and hosts KUAF's Ozarks at Large radio program, the evening featured presentations by Gordon Watkins, president of the Buffalo Watershed Alliance; followed by Kevin Cheri, National Park Service superintendent of the Buffalo; then Suzie and Jim Liles, she a former historian and he a former Park Service Ranger and manager; then acclaimed Buffalo author and photographer Ken Smith, who coordinates trail construction for hiking trails along the Buffalo; and finally Bob Allen, president of the Piney Creeks Chapter of the Arkansas Canoe Club.
I expected to see 150 perhaps 200 would attend. So it was almost overwhelming to find the enormous center literally teeming with people of all walks and ages.
Former 2nd District U.S. Rep. Ed Bethune and his wife, Lana, were seated to my left at one circular table.
The deeply controversial C&H Hog Farms at Mount Judea that our state two years ago wrongheadedly permitted to begin spewing raw waste onto the mountainous karst land about 6 miles above the river wasn't mentioned during the evening set aside solely to celebrate the river.
But that didn't stop this former congressman and me from discussing that God-awful decision across the tablecloth.
As a former FBI agent, politician and once chairman of the state's GOP, Bethune understands well the inner workings of politics and how pressures from special interests too often override the best interests and needs of the general population.
And he fathoms just how much power exists in the hands of the people themselves when they decide to exercise it for a common cause.
We agreed that if the people of Arkansas, those who care about our state and something as precious and God-given as our Buffalo, will pause for 15 minutes in their day to contact their state legislators and let them know this sacred region is the worst place a factory containing 6,500 swine could be located and that it should be moved, the impact of unified voices could be hugely effective.
Otherwise, our elected lawmakers will continue to be wooed by relatively small special interests with handsome campaign checks and personal agendas, which is what's been happening.
The personable Bethune said that turn-of-the-20th-century historian Henry Brooks Adams had a particularly relevant comment about getting the attention of congressmen that's equally applicable to all politicians, especially when they are functioning as a legislative body or bureaucracy.
"I used to paraphrase Adams by saying: 'Politicians do not respond to logic or reason; like hogs, they respond to pressure. If you want to get anything done you must take a stick and hit them on the snout,'" Bethune said. "With respect to the hog factory at Mount Judea: We've tried logic and reason, but it's going to take determined, persistent pressure from the people to get rid of this scourge."
So, valued readers, I can continue writing a million or so more words lamenting what a grievous decision our state's Department of Environmental Quality (cough) made in allowing this hog factory into the Buffalo National River watershed that will result only in a lot more words.
What can change this misplaced travesty Bethune calls a scourge is a chorus of voting citizens like yourselves lifting the stick that is your voice and whapping your legislators squarely on the snout, repeatedly if necessary. But, as with anything that makes a difference in this life we share, you've got to care enough to make the effort.
The late Dr. Neil Compton, the acknowledged patriarch of preserving the Buffalo River years ago, put it this way: "I challenge you to step forward to protect and care for the wild places you love best."
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Mike Masterson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at mikemasterson10@hotmail.com.
Environment agency chief orders 5% cut
By Emily Walkenhorst
This article was published today at 3:15 a.m.
Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality division heads will have to recommend 5 percent budget cuts, which will likely include layoffs, department Director Becky Keogh told the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission on Friday.
The commission is the department's appellate body.
The cuts will offset current and expected drops in federal funding from congressional budget cuts, in addition to decreases in collections on state permit fees, Keogh said.
A 5 percent cut would be $2.75 million of the department's $55 million budget. Department spokesman Katherine Benenati said the amount would be trimmed over two years.
The department has about 360 employees and a payroll of about $18.9 million. A 5 percent payroll reduction would represent about 20 to 25 positions, Benenati said. But the cuts will be shared between staff and administrative costs.
Division heads will submit recommendations in the next 90 days on what could be cut from their divisions.
The department has lost $250,000 in federal funding recently.
"So we want to acknowledge that early," Keogh said, adding that she doesn't want to cut costs related to the department's cleanup and remediation of hazardous sites.
The budget cuts will also fulfill Gov. Asa Hutchinson's request for state agencies to be leaner, she said, and are part of an effort to restructure the department to become more efficient.
The department had six regulatory divisions and several administrative divisions. Now, the department will have three regulatory divisions -- air, water and land resources -- and two administrative divisions below the director's office -- the office of operations and outreach, and the office of general counsel.
Keogh said she hoped that streamlining the agency would help reduce costs and clarify what the department does.
In addition, Keogh said, she wants to bring more technical experts to the forefront of the department to make sure they're heavily involved in decision making.
Commissioner Wesley Stites, chairman of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville's chemistry and biochemistry department, asked Keogh if the department's existing divisions would be split among the three new divisions and if staff members will be asked to work on a more diverse set of issues.
"There's obviously going to be some overlap," Keogh said, adding that she hopes, for example, that someone working in hazardous waste can help on solid-waste issues from time to time.
She said she wants to make sure that employees can work on a broader set of tasks, rather than hiring employees for expertise that might not always be in need.
Other commissioners did not ask about the moves. Commissioner Robert Reynolds, president of Shuler Drilling Co., told Keogh that he thought she was doing a good job in her first six months as director.
After the meeting, Stites said he wasn't opposed to Keogh's suggestions but is curious about how the transition to fewer divisions will work.
He said the four divisions set to become land resources -- hazardous waste, regulated storage tanks, solid-waste management, and surface mining and reclamation -- all have a lot in common.
"On the other hand, they're kind of different," he said. "All I was trying to do was just get a feel for what ... how intact those divisions will be."
As for the 5 percent budget cuts, Stites said he wasn't concerned, acknowledging that Hutchinson has asked state agencies to find ways to cut costs.
"I guess I'm just going to sit back and see what happens," he said. "'If the wait times for permit applications start to go up, then obviously there's an issue. If decrease, then, well, hey, she's accomplished some good things."
Keogh has appointed directors of all the divisions except for water. Current Water Division Director Ellen Carpenter has asked not to be appointed to the position, noting that she may retire soon, Keogh said.
Stuart Spencer has been chief of the Air Division for a few months, and Keogh said he's already streamlined its permitting process to reduce its backlog by 70 percent.
Tammy Harrelson, a deputy director of the entire Department of Environmental Quality, will lead the Land Resources Division.
Tim Cain, who arrived in June in another position, will take over the Office of Operations and Outreach. Julie Chapman, who has been general counsel in Keogh's office, will oversee the Office of General Counsel.
Metro on 10/24/2015
Event marks opportunity to make a difference
By Fran Alexander
Posted: October 20, 2015 at 1 a.m. NWA online
Some sort of lulled assumption settles over us as a society when it comes to realizing how things get done. For example, most of our lives are spent utilizing public lands without giving a thought to the history of their creation and continued existence or how we, the people, became the owners and benefactors of those places and spaces.
Generally, even less of our energies are devoted to actively protecting, enhancing and defending our public home turf from an endless assortment of threats. Fortunately, there are some unsung heroes among us who do hear the clarion calls to action when assaults and injustices befall the common good.
Our state's best-known natural area follows a river that flows freely for 135 miles through the Ozark Mountains. The Buffalo River is one of only a few undammed rivers in the lower 48 states, according to the U.S. National Park Service, and that free-flowing status was once in serious jeopardy.
One of my all-time favorite quotes, "When the people lead, the leaders will follow," has been accredited to people ranging from Thomas Jefferson to Gandhi. The quote was proved true in Arkansas by the late Dr. Neil Compton and a band of citizens who founded the Ozark Society in 1962. They brought attention and pressure against the possibility that this beautiful and clear river was slated for damming by the Army Corps of Engineers.
Arkansas' governor at the time, Orval Faubus, who was long proud of his rural roots, took political and personal notice of what might happen in his old stomping grounds and eventually so did other state leaders like U.S. Sen. J. William Fulbright. Efforts mounted against damming, but it was 10 years before the river was designated in 1972 as the first national river in the United States. This did not happen because of elected leaders, but because of people willing to act and to hang in there for the long fight of getting leaders to follow.
Now in another fairly well-known battle, citizens are engaged in saving the Buffalo---again. Certain that a confined animal (hog) farm near a tributary of the Buffalo River will deliver contamination from run-off and from leaching through the area's porous geologic structure, organizations and individuals launched efforts to hold the state accountable for allowing the use of this site for spreading hog manure in the river's watershed.
Nothing is free in this life, even when long hours of labor are voluntary. A coalition of non-profit groups-- the Ozark Society, the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance, the National Parks Conservation Association, and the Arkansas Canoe Club-- share the goal of having, "more funds available for action on the river related to conservation, advocacy, education, youth involvement, and generally building public awareness of and appreciation for the Buffalo River." The funding need also has, and may continue to include, legal fees and scientific research of water and ecosystems.
To this end, this coalition is hosting a "Celebration of the Buffalo" fundraising gala and honoring pioneers , like Compton, who have led the efforts to protect this river, and Ken Smith, who has coordinated trail building around the river for over 35 years. Smith has published four books, including "The Buffalo River Country" and "The Buffalo River Handbook," and probably no one alive today has a more intimate knowledge or connection to this river nor deserves our thanks more than he.
To be held this Friday (so act fast) at Fayetteville's Town Center, there will be a very tempting silent auction, music, book signing, speakers, a "Lobby Party" from 5 to 7 p.m. for a $5 donation, and/or a 7 p.m. banquet dinner for $100 per ticket (don't forget, this is to "save the Buffalo -- again). Details and donations (tax deductible) can be found at: www.celebratethebuffalo.com or call Teresa Turk, 206-713-2265.
This coalition of organizations is "committed to working toward permanent protection of the Buffalo against threats to its pristine quality, recreational value and economic benefits." The National Park Service has calculated that "1.3 million visitors annually spend $56.6 million in the gateway communities surrounding the national park [making the river] a key driver of tourism for Arkansas."
What's not to understand? People do not spend time and money to play in polluted waters. Please help those who are helping us all in saving this treasured place that belongs to all of us.
Commentary on 10/20/2015
Posted: October 20, 2015 at 4:05 a.m.
A federal judge is giving the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Small Business Administration three additional months to finally comply with two federal environmental laws in properly completing their required environmental reassessment for C&H Hog Farms at Mount Judea.
The agencies sought the extension in late September after being flooded with "an unexpectedly large volume" of public comments (1,858, in fact) on the new draft environmental assessment.
The assessment is an integral part of loan guarantees the agencies made for this factory our state's Department of Environmental Quality (cough) wrongheadedly okayed to operate in Arkansas' Buffalo National River watershed.
The public comments about the second insufficient assessment raised substantive issues including relevant studies and assessments that require review, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. I can attest that those comments contain many relevant issues.
Four environmental and conservation groups sued the federal agencies in 2013, alleging their environmental assessment, needed to guarantee loans to the factory, was woefully incomplete. I always saw that assessment as virtually nonexistent. Federal Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. agreed in 2014 and ordered the agencies to complete a second assessment in compliance with two federal environmental laws. Now Marshall has given them until March 1 to try to get the third attempt completed.
What a needless hog-wild mess our state created, even facilitated, here.
By Brian Thompson
Posted: October 10, 2015 at 1 a.m.
Much has been written about the Buffalo National River in regard to its environmental value as an extraordinary water resource. But, what if we look at it from a purely economic standpoint. After all, most decisions regarding the growth of Arkansas industry are driven by economics.
The Buffalo itself is an important economic component of Arkansas tourism. In regard to the C&H Hog Farm, the question becomes whether a key tourism driver like the Buffalo can successfully coexist with an agricultural facility that has a significant waste disposal footprint. From an economic standpoint, it would be ideal if both industries could thrive in close proximity.
The Arkansas Pork Producers Association and the Arkansas Farm Bureau insist they can. They describe the owners of C&H as a responsible farm family that deeply cares about the environment. The farm supporters assure us the risk is low, if not non-existent. Yet, it is clear there is still risk, if for no other reason than the facilities' size and its proximity to a national river.
Risks from C&H come from four sources: Surface run-off, groundwater contamination, lagoon overflow from severe weather, and finally, lagoon collapse.
Let's look at the worst-case scenario. Lagoon collapse due to the weight on underlying karstgeology (think sinkholes) is a low-probability but high-risk event that has occurred numerous times in karst environments elsewhere. In our example, the collapse of the karst opens up the floor of the lagoon to an underground cavity. This results in the rapid drainage of lagoon waste into the karst, a volume that could exceed one million gallons. Nearby springs connected via the karst turn the color of chocolate. Quickly, Big Creek becomes contaminated and, in turn, so does the Buffalo. The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality steps in to mitigate the collapse, to little effect. The National Park Service closes the Buffalo to the public. The closure and its reasons are publicized. Tourism in the Buffalo gateway communities stalls. Cargill successfully defers liability, stating that C&H is an independent contractor. C&H resources are quickly drained by legal claims and they declare bankruptcy. Tourism operators call for disaster relief. It becomes apparent mitigation and costs to restore the river (if that is possible) will come at the expense of the Arkansas taxpayer. In the absolute worst case, questions arise as to whether the damaged Buffalo can continue to be designated a "national river."
This particular risk may seem remote, but similar events have happened in the past and, as you can see, the consequences are enormous. Tom Aley, an professional Arkansas geologist, has suggested C&H should carry environmental risk insurance to address potential liability. Such policies are available and can be purchased for exactly these sorts of risks. Mr. Aley suggests a policy with an upper limit payout of $50 million.
"That's high," you say? Considering the Buffalo brought in $57 million in economic benefits to the state just last year, this is in all likelihood too low. But, it is a starting point. And if the risks are as low as the Farm Bureau says, the premiums should be reasonable and viewed as a cost of doing business in this economically important watershed. The policy should be written to provide coverage for the four risks mentioned earlier. With the purchase of such a policy, C&H should add chemical markers to their holding lagoons for source tracing purposes.
Why this has not already been done to reassure the public remains an unanswered question. It would certainly aid the current scientific efforts in evaluating the farm's impact. From the insurer's point of view, such chemical markers would serve to isolate C&H liability and ensure that claims do not result from other sources.
Currently, the Arkansas taxpayer is the de facto insurer and will be on the hook for any problems that result from this facility. If the farm's owners and supporters truly intend to be accountable, then they must ensure the waste is chemically traceable and purchase sufficient environmental risk coverage. If they are unwilling to take these simple mitigation steps, we have to ask ourselves as taxpayers if they are really as responsible as they would have us believe.
Commentary on 10/10/2015
Readers want hearing
by Mike Masterson
Thanks to valued readers who responded to my call last week for comments on our governor and the Pollution Control and Ecology Commission needing to instruct the foot-dragging Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (cough) to schedule a hearing where all new research on possible contamination of the Buffalo National River watershed by the hog factory at Mount Judea can be formally submitted. Here are a few responses.
From Virginia McKimmey: "Thank you for your tireless effort to try to do something about the swine fiasco close to the Buffalo River. When I've called our elected officials' offices about this matter, I have been told nothing can be done! That makes me furious ... People are disgusted with politics. The Buffalo is our only national river, so why can't our congressional delegation do something since local politicians won't? I like regulation since banks, business and people don't do such a good job of regulating themselves. It's all about politics and the bottom line."
From Dorothy Trickey: "On the Buffalo River/C&H Hog Farm--our governor and Pollution Control and Ecology should force a hearing on this matter. Our river should be saved from pollution and loved and enjoyed by all Arkansans as well as tourists. Save the Buffalo! Thanks for keeping us informed on this issue."
From Bill Caller: "We need hearings, not based on money, but on saving the beautiful river in its pristine state. Please keep pen in hand and don't spare the paper. You need to be the voice for all of Arkansas."
Finally, I appreciated the following message from retired engineer Duane Woltjen: "There's no reason to believe the installation of pond liners will stop the obvious leakage or spillage that is evident by contamination of the well water. Even a perfect pond liner will not stop the leakage that's probably occurring through the floor of the building or due to incidental spillage.
"The pond liner, besides incurring obvious further risks associated with installation, fails to do anything to facilitate actual monitoring of liner leakage should it occur. Likewise, it does nothing to ensure that the floor of the barn is not also source of leakage--highly probable when a new building settles.
"It's of little comfort to realize that ADEQ actually only requires that leakage be less than 5,000 gallons a day for each pond acre, so it really isn't legally necessary to actually stop the leakage, just slow it down (if you can figure a way to actually measure leakage of that magnitude)."
"The only sure way to protect the resources of the people is obvious. I'll leave expression of how that might be done to a reasonably bright fifth grader."
Editorial on 10/03/2015
Hog farm modification produces debate; Public hearing in Jasper
By DAVID HOLSTED Harrison Daily Times - Harrison, Arkansas
JASPER — Opinions differed, as usual, at a public hearing about the C&H Hog Farm.
What we have here is little more than a public relations effort to conceal the major pollution threat to the Buffalo River by C&H Hog Farms,” was the testimony of hydrogeologist Tom Aley. Evan Teague of the Arkansas Farm Bureau saw it differently.
“This was one thing that was asked for by environmental groups,” he said. “This is what you asked for.”
The subject of controversy at the two-hour hearing held at the Jasper School was a request by C&H Farms to the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) for modifications to the farm’s waste storage ponds. The hearing, which was attended by several dozen people, was requested by the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance.
C&H Farms is a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) located near Mt. Judea. The farm has about 6,000 hogs, and environmentalists have long contended that the waste from the animals eventually finds its way into the nearby Buffalo National River.
As explained by John Bailey, ADEQ permits branch manager, the requested modifications are 60-mil high density polyethylene (HDPE) liners in both waste storage ponds; an 80-mil HDPE cover on pond one; and a flare system on pond one to burn off methane gas.
Currently both ponds have an 18-inch clay lining.
Bailey added that the cost of installation will be paid for by C&H, and it will be checked by a licensed engineer.
He went on to say that the optimum time for installation of the liners and cover would be during the summer to allow for quicker drying of the ponds. He expected it to take one or two days depending on the weather.
There was some skepticism among some audience members about the integrity of the clay liners that are already in place. If the ponds were supposed to be state of the art, they asked, why was there a need for further modifications?
“If the liner proved inadequate,” one person said, “what happens when the modification proves inadequate? Maybe you should be reviewing your requirements for further modifications.”
Jack Stewart, vice-president of the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance, was perplexed as to why a public hearing was held at taxpayer expense when a decision on the modifications had already been made. It was his belief that the C&H ponds were already leaking waste water. Adding HDPE liners will not stop the leakage, he added, and he urged a thorough study be done on the ground underneath the ponds.
Though he could not be at the meeting, Aley’s testimony was included in the public comment section. The testimony was an assessment prepared at the request of the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance.
According to Aley, who is president and senior hydrogeologist for Ozark Underground Laboratory, Inc., “Arkansas lacks effective groundwater protection controls as is demonstrated by the existence of this hog farm and its manure ponds.”
Aley went on to say in his testimony that “retrofitting liners in the C&H manure ponds so that they will not leak or rupture will, at best, be a very challenging operation.”
Aley summarized his findings by saying that the proposed liners may be beneficial, they would not negate the serious pollution risks associated with the manure ponds.
Kathy Downs of Jasper expressed disappointment with the ADEQ, accusing it of trying to put a Band-Aid on a huge wound.
“The basic job of the ADEQ is to protect the environment,” Downs said, “and you’re not doing it.”
It was her opinion that the whole thing was political, and the fix was in.
“We don’t want to see the ADEQ turn their backs again and again on our efforts to protect the environment,” Downs said. “Please, ADEQ, do your job.”
Teague, who is from Little Rock, insisted that the modifications were not being done because the original clay liners were defective. The ponds met the minimum standards, he said. Rather, the HDPE liners were being installed because opponents of C&H Farms wanted them installed.
Jerry Masters of Dover was even more passionate in his defense of C&H Farms. A member of the Arkansas Pork Producers Association, Masters repeated Teague’s claim that the HDPE liners were being put in for the environmentalists and activists. Yet, they were still protesting.
“That tells me that many of you won’t be satisfied until the padlocks are put on the doors of C&H and it’s closed,” he said.
Masters’ charge resulted in enthusiastic applause from many in the audience and a cry of “That’s right!”
Masters continued by defending the owners of C&H Farms, calling them people of high integrity and victims of continual harassment.
“You all requested these,” Masters said of the modifications, “and you’re still opposed.”
It's the politics, stupid
I was visiting the other day with a former employee of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (cough) about that controversial hog factory the agency wrongheadedly permitted to set up shop two years ago in our treasured Buffalo National River watershed.
He offered an informed response when asked his opinion of why this agency hasn't already acted to schedule a hearing where the substantial evidence collected and analyzed in several scientifically based studies could be accepted and examined to ensure the protection of this river.
Each is said to document levels of microbial contamination in the watershed, which is likely to damage the Buffalo. I asked: "I mean, why wouldn't this agency, whose sole responsibility is to accurately and completely assess any and all credible evidence that could show contamination, want to have every possible fact to examine? Isn't that why this agency even exists? Why shouldn't they insist on having these studies?"
He stared back incredulously. "Now, Mike, you're not stupid," he said, cocking an eyebrow. "Surely you of all people understand how state politics works. This issue and that agency are very political. The only way such a hearing will happen is if the order to hold it comes from above. Either the governor's office or Pollution Control and Ecology, or both, have to tell Environmental Quality they want the hearing held in a purely apolitical manner and let the facts speak for themselves. That's just the way it works."
If that's the case, our Gov. Asa Hutchinson, or the Pollution Control and Ecology commissioners he appoints, indeed needs to step up and do the obviously right thing by our river and the people of Arkansas. Instruct the Department of Environmental Quality to hold an objective hearing (no politickin', lobbyin' or campaign-contributin' involved) to accept all the new studies and results that didn't exist when it so quickly and quietly awarded this factory its general permit. Then intelligently and honestly determine what changes are occurring in the watershed since this factory began accepting up to 6,500 of Cargill's swine to raise.
By my way of thinking, anything less than this kind of necessary fact-finding is indeed purely political and a flagrant dereliction of responsibility to the public, as well as a disgrace to the process of protecting this sacred national river. As I wrote this weekend, a Little Rock law firm is rightfully asking on behalf of the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance why these highly relevant studies are being ignored and why the state hasn't slated a hearing to review the permit it issued to C&H Hog Farms. Perhaps that might lead to depositions and answers.
Tell me how you feel, Mr. and Mrs. Arkansas, about a hearing and preserving the quality of your national river. No need to ask my opinion, is there now?
Editorial on 09/29/2015
Posted: September 27, 2015 at 2:03 a.m.
The Buffalo River Watershed Alliance is, well, fit to be fried over the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality's (cough) failure to fully monitor the misplaced Newton County hog factory in the Buffalo National River watershed, judging by the group's formal complaint filed last week with agency director Becky Keogh.
Little Rock attorneys Philip E. Kaplan and Dana Landrum penned the five-page letter expressing deep concerns over the way the agency has been basically ignoring previous complaints about C&H Hog Farms at Mount Judea, as well as credible scientific studies documenting environmental changes in the past two years.
Among shortcomings cited is that the state ignored five individual critical evaluations of the factory's draft environmental assessment issued under revised federal court order and recently released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Small Business Administration, which commissioned the assessment.
In short, the alliance contends the agency has been failing badly in its crucial role to objectively analyze all relevant data being collected from various legitimate scientific sources, choosing instead to place its faith solely in the findings of the state-financed Big Creek Research Extension Team (BCRET), led and staffed by members of the University of Arkansas geosciences department.
The alliance says there are enough concerning studies now to justify reopening the factory's controversial permit for review and, "for the purpose of illustrating the significant environmental impact of the C&H Hog Farms as shown by scientific data and information proffered by these experts."
Such information, derived from those separate studies, found the hog factory is indeed located on the Boone-St. Joe karst unit. Yet, the complaint adds, "no geophysical studies or related investigations were conducted to delineate any karst features, subsistence and/or sinkholes under the waste lagoons."
The complaint also contends the agency's unflagging reliance on BCRET is misplaced, as its study "is flawed, inadequate and non-representative." So that naturally would make it a big mistake to rely solely upon the state basically to be investigating itself.
Furthermore, alliance lawyers say, "BCRET's upstream-downstream water monitoring fails to consider how water moves through karst topography, relies on only 6-7 sites spanning ... more than 600 acres of waste spreading fields, and uses inappropriate upstream and downstream sampling sites that do not serve their intended function as a control and a comparison to the control."
The complaint says BCRET's data collected from Big Creek, a major Buffalo tributary, suggest contamination with elevated E.coli and nitrate levels, which shouldn't be ignored. Plus, the negative impact to air in the watershed is notable by the offensive odors and "airborne emissions of volatile organic compounds."
The attorneys said despite repeated Freedom of Information requests made for copies of the required construction permits for the C&H waste holding ponds, "no construction permit has been produced." It goes on to cite the laws and regulations that require such permits, and notes the absence of the required published notice of C&H's application for a construction permit in a Newton County newspaper.
The complaint says the agency "must also show that the ponds and clay liners were constructed in accordance with the engineer's approved plans, and inspected by the [department] for compliance with those plans and appropriate standards." It further says a September 2013 inspection report on the agency's website showed rocks blended into the clay liner, raising questions about its adequacy.
In spite these continued requests to revoke, suspend or simply reopen the permit issued to C&H for a hearing to become fully informed of what's already known about rising pathogen and bacterial levels in the watershed since the factory began operating two years ago, the department oddly has left the matter unresolved, which doesn't absolve its fundamental responsibility to all of us.
The complaint asks Keogh and company to finally either reopen the factory's permit and hold a related hearing, or refuse to reopen the permit and hold a hearing.
There's clearly been plenty of data collected to establish grounds for re-evaluating the C&H permit. I'm wondering why this agency, vested with ensuring purity in our environment over political machinations, would hesitate the slightest in eagerly collecting and analyzing all possible facts related to our Buffalo National River. Protecting the environment is the sole reason we have a Department of Environmental Quality.
The alliance complaint concludes by reminding the agency of its solemn obligation. "Our clients are prepared to show that there have been violations of the permit, that it was obtained through misrepresentation and failure to disclose all relevant facts ... Its continued operation is a threat to neighboring residents, property and business owners in its vicinity, students of the nearby Mount Judea school, and the more than 1.3 million people who visit the Buffalo National River each year."
Buffalo River Watershed Alliance is a non profit 501(c)(3) organization
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