Newton County Times

A billboard, apparently calling attention to the controversial operation of a state-permitted commercial hog farm at Mt. Judea within the Buffalo National River watershed, recently went up on U.S. 65 South near Western Grove.
The sign reads:
“Come Enjoy the Buffalo River
It’s Not Polluted .... Yet”
And is followed by what looks to be an e-mail address:whos905@outlook.com
The Newton County Times sent a message to the address asking who is responsible for the sign and its actual meaning, but received no reply as of press time.
A sign similar in appearance, though calling attention to racial issues, appeared in Harrison late last year and has generated state-wide and national conversation.
Though the sign at Western Grove does not specifically mention the hog farm, located near Big Creek which is a tributary to the Buffalo National River, the controversy over the farm and its location continues to spread nationally. In December the New York Times published a story about the farm and it appears on its website under the headline 2,500 Pigs Join Debate Over Farms vs. Scenery.
Written by John Eligon, the story relates both sides of the argument for and against the farm in comments from local residents Anita Hudson, Sam Dye, Glen Ricketts and Charles Campbell; Buffalo River Superintendent Kevin Cheri, environmental and conservation groups, as well as hog industry spokespeople and state officials including Teresa Marks, the director of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality.
The controversy began when ADEQ granted coverage in August 2012 to C & H Hog Farms under a General Permit for Concentrated Feeding Operations (CAFOs). C & H was the first facility that sought coverage under the CAFO General Permit and to date is the only facility that has been approved under the General Permit.
The CAFO permit program was the result of a 2003 lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency that required EPA to regulate concentrated animal feeding operations. States that had delegation from EPA for the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit programs were required to either adopt the EPA permit or develop their own permit for concentrated animal feeding operations.
ADEQ held six public hearings in 2011 before adopting the General Permit for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. Such operations include hog farms, dairy farms and poultry farms. However, the agency was not required to advertise or hold public hearings locally prior to issuing the permits which raised the ire of conservation groups.
ADEQ held an informational meeting in Jasper May 8, 2013, to provide information on the permit it already issued to C & H Hog Farms to operate.
Marks is quoted by the New York Times reporter as saying that while the public should have been better notified about the operation before approval, she had enough confidence in the environmental integrity of the project that it would not have affected the ultimate outcome.
“Will there be some of this waste that could reach the Buffalo River? Sure,” she said. “Will it cause an environmental problem? No, we don’t think there’s going to be any environmental harm caused.”