Buffalo River Watershed Alliance
The U.S. Department of Justice has decided to drop its challenge of a federal court ruling that enjoined more than $3 million in loan guarantees to an industrial hog farm in the Buffalo National River Watershed in the Arkansas Ozarks. On December 2, 2014, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas D. Price Marshall ruled that the guarantees by the Farm Service Agency and Small Business Administration were issued without an adequate environmental assessment and violated both the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. Today, the federal 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in Arkansas today granted a motion filed by the Department of Justice to withdraw and voluntarily dismiss the department’s appeal of the judgment. The loan guarantees were made to C & H Hog Farms in Mt. Judea, AR. Now the two federal agencies must now go back and conduct new assessments within one year. “This outcome sends a strong message that federal agencies that are subsidizing and supporting industrial-sized concentrated animal feeding operations through loans and guarantees will have to follow NEPA and the ESA in the future,” said Earthjustice attorney Marianne Engelman Lado, who represents a coalition of the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance, Arkansas Canoe Club, National Parks Conservation Association and the Ozark Society. “This is a truly significant victory, but the fight to remove C & H Hog Farms from the Buffalo River watershed goes on,” said Dane Schumacher, Buffalo River Watershed Alliance Board member. “We continue to monitor signs for bacterial content that filters into Big Creek and ultimately the Buffalo National River. Much damage could be done if C & H continues to operate in the watershed, and we intend to keep up the pressure to ensure that this ill-placed industrial hog facility never has the chance to foul Arkansas’ crown jewel and America’s first national river.”
A 180-day moratorium on new concentrated animal feeding operations – or CAFOs – in the Buffalo River Watershed is now in effect, for the third time.
The Arkansas Pollution and Ecology Commission renewed the temporary ban Friday morning.
David Branscum sits in the state House representing the area. Branscum supports the moratorium and the one existing hog farm already along the watershed.
“If you know the family like I do, and I know they are a really good family and they do it right, then I don’t think this one CAFO is going to ever have a damaging effect on the Buffalo River. That being said, I could be wrong. It could over time,” said Branscum.
“But I can promise you this much. With the extensive study that the University of Arkansas is doing if there’s any pollution and it’s going into the river, we will know it.”
Anna Weeks of the Arkansas Public Policy Panel helped initiate the rule-making process. Weeks said the state could be waiting up to four years for the UA study to be complete.
“As far as any developments in the study in the next 180 days those studies are long-term so there wouldn’t be any new results that come out in the next 180 days,” said Weeks.
However, Weeks said the Arkansas Public Policy Panel is optimistic a more-lasting solution is near.
“We are thankful for the Governor’s support of the moratorium and the commission’s decision. We look forward to working with the Governor’s office to move forward with the rule-making process.”
Speaking after an environmental award event in Little Rock on Friday Hutchinson said he supports extending the moratorium period to five years, to allow for more research on the one existing 6,500 capacity swine operation, C&H Hog Farm, in Mt. Judea.
“We need to pass the rule that’s pending the Legislature right now that extends the moratorium, that puts a sunset clause on it, and by then we should have the final completion of the University of Arkansas study,” said Hutchinson.
Opponents of such operations contend the storage of hog waste at industrial swine operations will result in pollution to America’s first National River. The Public Policy Panel is working toward a permanent ban on medium and large scale swine farms in the Buffalo National River Watershed.
By Emily Walkenhorst
The Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission on Friday will consider a third 180-day ban on new medium and large hog farms in the Buffalo River watershed, two days after the governor issued a statement in support of it.
The commission has approved the ban twice before with little dissent, but Friday's meeting at the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality headquarters in North Little Rock will be a first for four of the 13 commissioners: Robert Reynolds of El Dorado, Wesley Stites of Fayetteville, David Chris Gardner of Paragould -- all three governor appointments -- and Ricky Chastain, the new designee from the Game and Fish Commission.
Reynolds is president of Shuler Drilling Co., Stites is the chairman of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville's chemistry and biochemistry department, and Gardner is a lawyer in Jonesboro, all appointed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
Nearly one year ago, the commission -- the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality's appellate body -- approved a moratorium on new hog farms in the watershed as two groups pursued a change to department rules that would permanently ban medium and large hog farms in the watershed.
The rule-making activity is a response to the establishment of C&H Hog Farms in Mount Judea, a large-scale facility permitted to house about 2,500 sows and as many as 4,000 piglets at a time.
The facility, established in 2013, is on Big Creek, about 6 miles upstream from where it meets the Buffalo National River. C&H Hog Farms would not be affected by the rule making or the temporary ban.
Proponents of the permanent ban say it will help keep the river and its watershed clean by limiting the amount of potential pollution from hog waste in the river.
"The purpose of the rule making is to prevent the cumulative impact of multiple hog farms," said Ross Noland, the attorney for the rule-making process from the McMath Woods firm.
Many proponents also point to problems other states have had with catastrophic failures of hog waste holding ponds in extremely severe weather.
Jerry Masters, executive vice president of the Arkansas Pork Producers Association, said the industry has largely self-imposed a moratorium since contention arose about C&H Hog Farms in early 2013. He said the moratorium and permanent ban were "overkill."
He said the Buffalo River can be polluted by other sources and that his organization is consistently educating hog farmers on best management practices and environmental management.
Hutchinson issued a statement Wednesday in support of the 180-day moratorium and continued extension of it until the five-year, University of Arkansas at Fayetteville study on C&H Hog Farms' effect on the watershed is complete in 2018.
"Science and facts will drive our future decisions," Hutchinson said in the statement. "In the meantime, we'll do everything we can to protect the watershed while the facts are collected."
Former Gov. Mike Beebe gave the UA study $340,000 in rainy-day funds to get started, but no funds have been allocated for it since. Researchers anticipate running out of money before the study's five years are up.
Hutchinson spokesman J.R. Davis said Wednesday that the governor was committed to keeping the study funded.
C&H Hog Farms is the first large-scale, swine-concentrated animal-feeding operation to receive a Regulation 6 waste permit from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality. It's still the only one, in part because of the moratorium.
The Buffalo National River had more than 1 million visitors in 2013 who spent about $46 million collectively, according to National Park Service data.
The Ozark Society and the Arkansas Public Policy Panel are still pursuing a permanent ban, but it's been five months since the groups have had a hearing on the rule before the public health and agriculture committees of the Arkansas Legislature.
At that hearing, the committees declined to vote on the rule, as members slowly trickled out during the hours of questioning, leaving the committees without a quorum.
The groups were originally scheduled to have a hearing before only the public health committees in September, but the committees declined to vote and instead requested that the agriculture committees be included in the discussion of the new rule. The joint meeting was held in December, and another has not been scheduled.
“I think the public will understand the need to reinstate a 180-day moratorium on issuing permits for medium to large scale animal-feeding operations in the Buffalo River watershed to allow proposed rulemaking process to be completed. In addition, a five-year sunset clause for rulemaking is appropriate and will provide a needed deadline for action. This way, there is time for the University of Arkansas to complete its independent study to determine any impact of current feeding operations on the watershed. “Science and facts will drive our future decisions. In the meantime, we’ll do everything we can to protect the watershed while the facts are collected.”
As a young adult, NOAA fisheries biologist and Arkansas native, Teresa Turk, camped along Big Creek, a tributary to the Buffalo National River. So when she learned that a new Confined Animal Feeding Operation had been permitted near Big Creek for more than six thousand swine, she decided to document potential threats to the watershed. In the process, she also documented being threatened by one of the farm contract waste operators (photo). The novice filmmaker is also part of an independent water quality monitoring team aiming to prove that the hog farm has placed the Buffalo in ecological peril. Her documentary is being screened at various film festivals, including the Eureka Springs Film Festival Saturday, April 25th at 1 p.m.. To learn more about efforts to preserve the watershed visit the Buffalo National River Alliance.
Harrison Daily Times
By DAVID HOLSTED davidh@harrisondaily.com |0 comments
JASPER — Several dozen people, supporters and opponents alike, were in attendance at the Jasper School on April 20 for a hearing concerning the C&H Hog Farm.
The 50-minute, orderly hearing was hosted by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ). The purpose was to hear comments on a proposed modification of the farm’s Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) under its Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation General Permit.
C&H Farm, which began operation in 2013, is located near Mt. Judea and handles about 6,500 hogs. The farm is located near Big Creek, a tributary of the Buffalo National River, and several groups have contended that waste from the farm eventually ends up in the Buffalo River. The animal waste is a threat to the environment and to the local tourist trade.
As explained by Ryan Benefeld, deputy director of the ADEQ, the proposed modification will affect on of the farm’s two waste storage ponds. Currently, wastewater from pond 1 is being applied to surrounding land by a combination of a pipeline/sprinkler system and a tanker wagon. Wastewater from pond 2 uses only a pipeline/sprinkler system, but C&H is requesting that a tanker also be allowed.
According to Benefeld, the ADEQ typically does not hold a public hearing for a modification request. However, a public request because of concern about the modification resulted in the Jasper hearing.
Benefeld was asked if the modification would result in change to the volume and frequency of wastewater application.
“We don’t anticipate any change,” Benefeld said. “We’re not expanding the application rate. That won’t change.”
Benefeld further explained that C&H would not need a permit to apply the waste to its own land, but if the waste was applied to a field owned by another person, that person would need a permit.
The hearing attracted several people from outside the area.
Brian Thompson was one of them, coming from Fayetteville. He described himself as retired from a large agricultural firm. He contended that C&H’s NMP was not clear, consistent or complete.
“Clarity, consistency and completion are an ongoing problem,” Thompson said.
He urged the ADEQ to return the application to the applicant for correction, then hold another hearing.
Gordon Watkins, who lives near Parthenon, is president of the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance. He also objected to the modification request. He thought the mapping and land use contracts needed to be corrected, and he contended that the full permit should be reopened.
Jane Darr is president of the North Fork and White Rivers. She drove over from the Mountain Home area to lend support to opponents of the hog farm. Darr noted that the Buffalo River flows into the White River. Water quality was at risk, she said, thereby subjecting the area to economic risks. She also urged a full review of the permit.
The modification was not without its supporters.
Ryan England, a dairy farmer from Bentonville, said he also used a tanker to apply waste to his land, and he followed ADEQ rules. The manure is tested, he said, and the land is tested.
“I think this is ridiculous that they have to do this modification,” England said.
Centerton cattle farmer Bob Shofner also supported C&H Farms. The application of waste to the land was an accepted practice in the agricultural industry, he said. The waste was “all natural organic fertilizer.”
According to Shofner, everything in connection with C&H Farms was done above board, with nothing hidden.
ADEQ staff at the hearing also provided attendees with a 59-page report titled “Monitoring the Sustainable Management of Nutrients on C&H Farm in Big Creek Watershed.” The report was a quarterly study done by the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture’s Big Creek Research and Extension Team.
The report is part of a five-year study, and according to Benefeld, officials haven’t yet seen anything alarming.
Benefeld went on to say that the ADEQ would probably make a decision on the modification request within the next week or two.
JASPER – A request to modify C&H Hog Farm's permit drew about 50 people to the Jasper School Cafetorium for a public hearing by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality. There were comments opposing the request as well as asking ADEQ to allow the modification.
Located near Mount Judea on Big Creek, a tributary of the Buffalo National River, the hog farm has generated controversy since beginning operation in 2014. Owned by three local families, C&H Hog Farm houses more than 6,000 sows and piglets at a time for Cargill Pork, keeping the piglets until they're weaned and taken outside Arkansas to be raised.
No action was taken on the request at Monday night's hearing, and Ryan Benefield, ADEQ deputy director, said it will be a few weeks before the agency announces a decision.
Benefield told the audience the request amounts to a "small change" in the farm's nutrient management plan. It would allow land application of wastewater from a secondary storage pond with a tanker wagon. Currently, water can be removed from the pond only by pipeline or a sprinkler system.
Responding to questions from the audience, Benefield said the difference between the main pond and the secondary one is the main pond contains more solid waste from the operation, whereas the secondary pond is mostly water, much of it rainwater.
"It's more concentrated, more solids in Pond 1," he explained after the meeting. "There is some overflow from Pond 1, but then it also has a lot of storm water. Pond 1 gets waste all the time; Pond 2 only gets it when 1 overflows through a planned overflow through the spillway."
According to Benefield, some of the water from the secondary pond has been recycled through the barns to clean them, but the owners want to remove the water from the pond and apply it to the drying fields. However, without a pipeline or sprinklers, they can't.
"They just simply can't apply by any other means," said Benefield.
One man from the audience asked why C&H hasn't installed a pipeline or sprinkler as was planned. Benefield said he didn't know the answer.
He did say, however, the wastewater from the secondary pond could be hauled by tanker to another location for land application, pointing out that the recipient would need a permit that allows such application.
After the question period, the floor was opened to those who had signed in to make comments.
Opponents and proponents
Brian Thompson, of Fayetteville, who said he was retired from the agriculture industry, opposed granting the permit modification. He contended the plan approved for the farm "is not clear, not correct and not complete." Thompson said the permit process should be reopened.
Gordon Watkins, of Parthenon, president of the Buffalo Watershed Alliance, also spoke against the request. He said the farm's permitted plan did not allow land application on two fields, but applications were made on them anyway during 2014. Watkins said there are problems and errors in the farm's plan, and that because of "numerous errors" in the paperwork, the full permit process should be reopened.
Jane Darr, of Cotter, president of Friends of the North Fork and White Rivers, said the potential for damage to the Buffalo's water quality is high because of the hog farm, as is the potential for the economic damage it could cause for the area. She urged ADEQ to deny the request and reopen the full permit process.
Ryan England, a dairy farmer from Bentonville, spoke in favor of granting the request, as did Bob Schafer, a beef cattle farmer from Centerton.
England said the request is just a redirection of applying the wastewater. He compared it to following a different road to a destination, saying it took different miles but had the same destination.
Schafer said the only difference from the current permit is the method of application. He said this is an accepted agricultural practice that applies all-natural, organic fertilizer on the land.
Working with Park Service
After the meeting, Benefield was asked about ADEQ's relationship with the National Park Service, which is responsible for the Buffalo. "We work with the Park Service a lot," he said. "We do a lot of the analysis, we do the testing for them. They gather the samples, our laboratory does the testing."
In March, the Park Service presented a program in Mountain Home showing that it's monitoring of Big Creek, and two points on the Buffalo above and below their confluence, found spikes for E. coli during two months between March and July 2014. However, they weren't sure if it was caused by the hog farm or was naturally occurring because runoff was higher due to more rain last year.
The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture also is monitoring Big Creek as part of a five-year study.
"Before the hog farm was ever there, we've done extensive monitoring of the Buffalo River in a bunch of stations with the Park Service," Benefield said. "We'll continue to do that. The U of A study is specific and focused on looking at that section of Big Creek, in looking at it above where there is no chance of runoff from the application fields, below where there would be monitoring in that system, and they're doing a lot of testing and sampling to look at that issue."
A report of the UA monitoring for the first quarter of this year was available at the Jasper meeting. Benefield was asked to briefly sum up the report.
"They would say it's too early to make any conclusions. As a matter of fact, I think the Park Service has said the same thing," Benefield said. "That's why you continue to look at it. When you're looking at things like bacteria, you're looking at long-term trends, you're looking over time. And I don't think they've seen anything alarming."
He said the study is for five years "and it needs that amount of time before you could ever draw conclusions."
"Now, if they see something alarming anywhere along, they'll let us know. And they haven't done so yet, they haven't seen anything alarming, anything of concern."
A controversial hog farm near the Buffalo National River is hoping to change how it deals with some waste from its operation, but people living nearby say they don't want to chance any changes to the C&H hog farm.
In the past, public meetings about the C&H hog game in Mount Judea have drawn a lot of concern from people, and Monday's meeting in Jasper was no different. The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality hosted the meeting to discuss a change where the farm could use tanker trucks to spread waste from its second pool. Right now only sprinklers are used for the second pool, which is mainly sewage and overflow from the farms first pool.
"The second pond is the overflow pond, it receives a lot less waste and the waste is a lot more liquids, not a lot of solids in it," Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality Deputy Director Ryan Benefield,
People at the meeting said they're concerned about the effect the change would have on the nearby Buffalo National River.
"Anytime they want to change the way they've got things set up is a concern for me because it wasn't sustainable to begin with and tinkering it is probably not going to make it more sustainable," Lin Wellford said The Department of Environmental Quality expects to make a decision soon.
Theculturetrip.com
The 10 Most Beautiful Towns in Arkansas
Jasper Located in the heart of Newton County, Jasper is a tiny, scenic town nestled in the Ozark Mountains not far from the Buffalo National River – the first waterway in the US to be designated national river status. Surrounded by breathtaking natural beauty, the lush wilds around the town are home to roaming herds of elk whose reintroduction to the area is celebrated annually with Jasper’s Buffalo River Elk Festival while it’s quaint downtown area is home to historic properties, like the Arkansas House Inn, a hotel first opened in 1934, and quirky antique stores like Emma’s Museum of Junk. Jasper, AR, USA
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