http://www.eurekaspringsindependent.com/single_story.asp?StoryID=5228
Hog factory opponents move forward to protect the Buffalo River
Becky Gillette Eureka Springs Independent
Wednesday, January 08, 2014
The holidays brought new filings in the lawsuit filed by a coalition of environmental groups challenging the permit for the controversial C&H Hog Farms in Mt. Judea near the Buffalo River, and the attention of one of the largest newspapers in the country, The New York Times.
Hannah Chang, the attorney with Earthjustice representing the environmental groups, said she was not terribly surprised to learn that The New York Times was doing a story on the hog factory.
“The problems CAFOs [Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations] and factory farms are having in states other than Arkansas is well known,” Chang said. “There is a great deal of concern about it. It has affected a lot of other communities in other states. It goes beyond just this one facility.”
Chang said another reason The Times was interested in the article is that the farm was the first such facility in Arkansas to get a general permit for a CAFO. The general permit streamlined the process, avoiding controversy by minimizing public notice and not requiring notification of agencies such as the National Park Service, which is charged with protecting the Buffalo National River – the nation’s first National River.
“Other states have been experiencing the CAFO problems for years, so it is part of a much bigger problem,” Chang said. “It is a really big deal for this to be the first one in Arkansas and the first in the Buffalo River watershed to get this general permit. It is on the front lines of something new that could be moving into the state.”
The lawsuit was filed by Earthjustice on behalf of the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance, the Arkansas Canoe Club, the National Parks Conservation Association and the Ozark Society. The plaintiffs allege that the USDA Farm Services Agency and the Small Business Administration (SBA) violated federal law in providing $3.2 million in loan guarantees for C&H Hog Farms, which began operating April 15, 2013.
Ozark Society President Robert Cross said the article was good exposure for an important issue.
“We are particularly pleased because we believe Cargill, who is the giant agriculture company behind this, should know that the people of the country realize the dangers of this type of operation not just in Arkansas, but around the country,” Cross said. “We are concerned with the particular location of this one and surprised Cargill would support one so close to Buffalo National River because of the possibilities of environmental damage.”
Cross said he didn’t think the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality Director [ADEQ] Teresa Marks came across very well in the article. Marks had earlier denied that the waste would leave the area of the hog farm where millions of gallons of untreated liquid manure will be spread on fields. But in The Times article, she said, “Will there be some of this waste that could reach the Buffalo River? Sure. Will it cause an environmental problem? No, we don’t think there’s going to be any environmental harm caused.”
In other states like North Carolina, heavy periods of rainfall have inundated sewage lagoons leading to million of gallons of waste pouring into local rivers where it has caused major environmental damage including massive fish kills. Cross said there couldn’t have been a worse spot to spray the hog waste than the fields in Mt. Judea. They are underlain with porous limestone karst that allows contaminated seepage to reach the groundwater and then Big Creek and the Buffalo River.
One of big concerns is that three of the fields abut the grounds of Mt. Judea School, which has 250 students.
“This is untreated hog waste that is being spread within a short distance of the school, as well as many of the homes there,” Cross said. “The fact is that the hog waste is untreated. We wouldn’t think of spreading our own waste in a method like that. It wouldn’t be allowed. But it is allowed to spread animal waste, which is just as dangerous as human waste. A hog generates four to eight times the fecal matter as a human, so at full capacity the 6,500 hogs could produce as much excrement as a city of 35,000. Spreading around untreated waste really gets to me as a retired professor of chemical engineering who has worked on sewage treatment plants.”
Even though waste hasn’t been sprayed on fields yet, Gordon Watkins, president of the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance (BRWA), said he has had numerous reports of offensive odors from as far as six miles from the facility, as well as in the halls and classrooms of the Mt. Judea School.
“Hogs have a distinctive stink and there is no mistaking the source,” Watkins said.
Cross said the permit process didn’t assess the economic impact on tourism or the environmental impact on local residents.
“Government agencies seem to be going out of their way to protect an industrial swine facility that will produce a handful of jobs, rather than our first national river that belongs to all of us and supports $38 million in local spending and five hundred local jobs,” he said.
In response to the lawsuit in December, the USDA and SBA denied violating any federal law. Earthjustice amended its complaint in late December adding some new facts and claims regarding violation of the Endangered Species Act.
“The government should be responding to that by the end of January,” Chang said. “We have agreed with the government on a briefing schedule. This is a case where we are asking the court to review what the agencies did in creating the loan. We filed the original complaint in August, and a lot has been going on since then. The state government is now using taxpayer money to do additional monitoring and studies, which is good because ADEQ gave it such a quick review but now wants to monitor it. Assuming everything goes forward as planned, briefings should be finished in early May, and then the court should decide to schedule oral arguments.”
Chang said the environmental groups have a strong case in showing that the federal agencies didn’t give the permit the proper scrutiny.
“That is a major weakness that the government just sort of rubber stamped it,” Chang said.
A positive outcome to the case could have nationwide implications if it makes it more difficult to get government-backed loans for CAFOs.
“We’re optimistic,” Cross said. “We are also looking at other legal options. There are certainly some other significant areas that can be explored. In this current lawsuit, the other side has such a weak case we believe we will prevail to have the loan guarantee withdrawn. We are hopeful the real force behind this, Cargill, will see the light one of these days and do something about this. The best outcome for everyone would be to have the farm moved.”
Cross said residents who want to have an impact on the issue should “not be quiet about it. Write to the governor. Write to the ADEQ. Write letters to the newspapers. Contact Cargill’s new president. Don’t let the issue die.”
Watkins said people should also write their state and federal representatives and ask that this facility be closed and no more be allowed in the Buffalo River watershed. People can visit the BRWA website (www.brwa.org) to learn much more and donate there, or on the sites of the coalition partners, to help support the efforts.