Monthly Archives: August 2018


Wildlife not the same as hogs on a farm

Wildlife not the same as hogs on a farm A small note of observation of a retired le- gal opinion from a non-Arkansawer regarding a claim that there is no to very little difference of damage done by the “several thousand hogs” compared to the “millions of deer, elk, bear […]


Appeal of permit for manure tossed – Democrat Gazette

Arkansasonline Environmental Workbook by Emily Walkenhost Appeal of permit for manure tossed An appeal over an approved permit modification for land application of hog manure as fertilizer was dismissed by the Arkansas Court of Appeals last week. Attorneys for Ellis Campbell of EC Farms argued that the appeal filed by […]


Studies ignored Swine factory By Mike Masterson

Arkansasonline Studies ignoredSwine factoryBy Mike Masterson Widely respected hydrogeologist Thomas Aley, president of the Ozark Underground Laboratory in Protem, Mo., completed in May his investigation into the suitability of issuing a new Regulation 5 animal liquid waste permit to C&H Hog Farms.Aley’s extremely detailed study concluded absolutely not, while emphasizing […]


A defender of natural Arkansas – Democrat Gazette

Arkansasonline A defender of natural Arkansas By RICHARD MASON Special to the Democrat-Gazette Posted: August 26, 2018 at 2 a.m. My favorite Broadway play is Les Miserables, in which Jean Valjean sings “Who am I?… I’m Jean Valjean … 24601!” It’s his confession that he is the escaped prisoner. After writing […]


Save the Buffalo – Democrat Gazette

https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2018/aug/26/save-the-buffalo-20180826/ OPINION REX NELSON: Save the Buffalo by Rex Nelson | Today at 1:56 a.m. Another school year has begun in Arkansas and surrounding states. Tourism in the Ozarks has slowed. I’m alone as I stand on the banks of the Buffalo River at Tyler Bend on a Wednesday afternoon. It’s unseasonably […]


Panel orders reissue of hog-farm denial Permit decision must be draft, it says – Democrat Gazette

Arkansasonline Panel orders reissue of hog-farm denial Permit decision must be draft, it says   by  Emily Walkenhorst | An application for a hog farm permit will return to the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality to be reconsidered during a new public-comment period, the agency’s appellate body decided Friday in a unanimous vote. The […]


Permit application for hog farm in Buffalo River’s watershed to be reconsidered – Democrat Gazette

Democrat Gazette Permit application for hog farm in Buffalo River’s watershed to be reconsidered  by Emily Walkenhorst A contentious hog farm permit application will return to the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality to be reconsidered during a new public comment period, the agency’s appellate body decided in an unanimous vote Friday. […]


Groups say Arkansas’ impaired-waters plan falls short – Democrat Gazette

Arkansasonline Groups say Arkansas’ impaired-waters plan falls short  by Emily Walkenhorst State regulators’ proposals do not go far enough in addressing impaired waters in the state, representatives of environmental groups told the agency during a public hearing Friday. Representatives of groups focusing on the Buffalo River and its related rivers, and […]


MIKE MASTERSON: Nutrients spilling over – Democrat Gazette

Arkansasonline MIKE MASTERSON: Nutrients spilling over By Mike Masterson Posted: August 18, 2018 at 2:06 a.m. Since our state’s Department of Environmental Quality (cough) has decided to shirk its fundamental responsibility by using proxy groups without regulatory authority to simply monitor the ongoing contamination in portions of our Buffalo National River […]


Buffalo National River Issues Hazardous Algae Alert, New Independent Algae Survey Team Forms – KUAF

KUAF Public Radio Buffalo National River Issues Hazardous Algae Alert, New Independent Algae Survey Team Forms By JACQUELINE FROELICH  The new alert, which regards a significant algae bloom in the Buffalo National River, warns visitors to avoid primary contact with algal infested waters. In the meantime, a survey team led by independent […]


No recuse for Buffalo – Letter to editor Democrat Gazette

Democrat Gazette No recuse for Buffalo The state Pollution Control and Ecology Commission did not demand Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s February 2018 appointee, Mike Freeze, recuse from a vote regarding C&H’s 6,500-head hog farm. Curiously, Administrative Law Judge Charles Moulton didn’t either. Referring to a recent article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: The […]


Watchdogs’ bias Impaired Buffalo – Mike Masterson

Arkansasonline MIKE MASTERSON: Watchdogs’ bias Impaired Buffalo By Mike Masterson It’s troubled me for years that our Department of Environmental Quality (cough) relies on the Big Creek Research and Extension Team, with an obvious agricultural bent toward protecting C&H Hog Farms, to authenticate any contamination leaking from that facility into adjacent […]


ADEQ Releases List of Impaired Bodies of Water – KARK

KARK News ADEQ Releases List of Impaired  Bodies  of Water Jessi Turnure NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) released a list of lakes and streams Thursday that fall below its standards. The proposed list is part of a report the Federal Clean Water Act requires Arkansas to submit […]


RICHARD MASON: Back to the 1970s – Democrat Gazette

Arkansasonline RICHARD MASON: Back to the 1970s By RICHARD MASON Special to the Democrat-Gazette This article was published August 5, 2018 at 2:38 a.m. Members of the present administration in Washington and Little Rock are trying their best to bring back the 1970s–environmentally. In 1969, a polluted river in Cleveland […]


Hundreds of Arkansas Waterways Draft Listed as Ecologically Impaired – KUAF

KUAF/ Ozark at Large Hundreds of Arkansas Waterways Draft Listed as Ecologically Impaired By JACQUELINE FROELICH  Listen to the broadcast here. A biannual review categorizes more than a thousand Arkansas waterways according to levels of impairment, with the worst cases requiring federal and state intervention. This year, several sections of the Buffalo River […]


Richard Mays fights pigs, pollution and plans for bigger highways – AR Times

Arkansas Times Richard Mays fights pigs, pollution  and  plans for bigger highways The blight-buster. By Leslie Newell Peacock @eyecandypeacock click to enlarge WORK ON I-630 WIDENING: Mays failed to get an injunction against the project that started last week. He took issue with the highway department’s exclusion from doing an environmental assessment. […]


Agency must do job – Letter to editor

Letter to Editor Arkansas Democrat Gazette Agency must do job The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality put out a press release last month announcing that long stretches of the Buffalo River and Big Creek, one of the largest tributaries of the Buffalo, are “impaired.” For those not fluent in bureaucratic […]