HARRISON  The debate over future permitting of confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in the Buffalo River Watershed continued last Tuesday night. The watershed lies within parts of Madison, Newton, Boone, Pope, Searcy, Marion, Van Buren, Stone and Baxter counties.
The Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission (APC&EC) held a public hearing in Harrison June 17, to receive comments on a third-party proposal by the Ozark Society and the Arkansas Public Policy Panel to change APC&EC Regulations 5 and 6: “Liquid Animal Waste Systems,” and “Regulations for State Administration of the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System,” respectively.

The petition calls for banning only new medium and large confined swine operations in the Buffalo National River watershed. Under Rule 5 the ban would be imposed on CAFOs having 750 or more swine weighing 55 pounds or more or CAFOs having 3,000 or more swine weighing less than 55 pounds. The regulation changes would prohibit an increase in the number of swine at existing facilities. No other kinds of livestock production is included in the petition.

The proposed changes to Regulation 6 originated by the ADEQ would require public notification procedures whenever a permit applicant files a Notice of Intent with the ADEQ to seek a General Permit under the permitting provisions of Regulation 6. Complaints arose after the permit to C&H Hog Farm at Mt. Judea in Newton County was already granted without publishing a public hearing notice in an area newspaper.

Opponents of swine production in the watershed held placards outside the Durand Conference Center prior to the start of the hearing at 6 p.m.

The room was mostly filled. About 30 individuals filled out cards requesting to make an oral comment at the hearing. The proceedings were facilitated by Charles Moulton, the Commission’s administrative law judge. He allowed 2 minutes for each person to make a comment that was audio recorded for the Commission. Moulton said the Commission preferred written comments for the sake of accuracy and clarity. That point was well taken when problems soon developed with the room’s microphones and sound system.

Moulton also emphasized that the proposals do not have any effect on the C&H Hog Farm already operating for over a year under the state’s first and only general CAFO permit. Nor would they effect the renewal of that permit. He also included the controversial SWEPCO electricity transmission line project in Northwest Arkansas. Those subjects should be removed from the comments, he advised, but the hog farm was brought up repeatedly.

Since this was a public hearing and not a public meeting, Moulton said he would not respond to or offer feedback on the comments voiced during the evening. He also warned that he could curtail the meeting if comments became repetitive. During the course of the hearing some of the people who filled out cards passed when it was their turn to speak, apparently after hearing their own concerns brought up by others.

Before taking comments, Bob Cross, president of the Ozark Society, explained the third-party rule making petition.

Reasons for proposing the rule changes were cited:
• The Buffalo National River watershed has the feature of porous limestone “karst” topography that allows rapid transport of pollutants. The karst pathway connects surface water, groundwater, wells, springs, streams, and tributaries into the Buffalo River.
• The area is not suited for waste ponds with leakage rates of up to 5,000 gallons per day per acre of surface area allowed by current regulations or for the land application of millions of gallons of hog waste. The risk of transporting nutrients, bacteria, and other pollutants to the Buffalo River is too great.
• Leakage from waste holding ponds as well as run-off, infiltration into the karst sub-layer, or flooding of the spray fields all pose significant threats to the high quality waters of the Buffalo.

The evening’s first two comments came from Gordon Watkins of Parthenon, president of the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance, and Jane Darr, president of Friends of the North Fork and White Rivers. Both endorsed the proposed changes.

Watkins said the Alliance has grown in a year to about 1,000 members substantially due to this particular issue. He said for the record the Alliance lends its full support to the petition. It has submitted a minute order to the Commission to that effect which he read. He added that the Alliance supports the current moratorium in place on issuing new CAFO permits and is in full support of a permanent moratorium.

Darr called attention to the volunteer nature of the only watershed organization in the middle section of the White River. The Buffalo is a tributary of the White River, she noted, and voiced her organizations support for the petitioned changes to Rules 5 and 6.

They were followed by two opponents to the petition, Bob Shofner of Centerton and Susan Anglin of Bentonville.

Shofner said he is a farmer. “We already have regulations,” he said. Addressing those supporting the petition, “Where were you when we had hearings to set regulations 5 and 6?”
The rules are based on science, he said. They should not be based on fear or emotions. He urged the current water studies being conducted on Big Creek near the C&H Hog Farm, a tributary to the Buffalo River, to continue and let the findings determine if and what changes need to be made in the regulations.

Anglin said she is a dairy farmer. “We rely on science and technology to produce a healthy product and protecting the environment for our family, our community and our cows. This rule making sets a very negative precedent, and is not based on science. This year it's hog farms. Next year it could be poultry, dairy or beef. I am pleading on behalf of family farmers for you to consider delaying all rulings until the research takes it’s course …”

Voicing opposition was John Meyer of Jasper who reading from some papers said, “There are numbers in here. There’s a number here of 750 or more swine and 350 or more swine and there’s a 55 pound number there. There is nothing that says anything about the number of farms that might have 650 swine or you could have 500 of those ... This is a bad regulation. The way the regulation is fine... We don’t need further restrictions that destroy our freedom and our lifestyle.”

Also making a comment from Newton County was Jack Stewart of Jasper. He supports both of the proposals. “On a local level,’ he said, “(they) are about protecting property values and jobs, clean air for everyone who breaths. Especially children. It’s about doing the right thing so that people need not fear that their wells are being contaminated. On a national level by establishing Buffalo National River we’ve made a promise to our children, and to their children, that special places like the Buffalo River will be preserved for them to experience.”

The deadline for submitting written comments on the proposed third-party changes to Regulations 5 and 6 is 4:30 p.m. (Central Time), July 1, 2014. The public comment deadline for the ADEQ’s proposed changes to Regulation 6 is 4:30 (Central Time) July 28, 2014.

In addition, a separate public hearing involving different proposed changes to Regulation 6 will be held at 2 p.m. July 14 at the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) Commission Room 5301 Northshore Drive, North Little Rock. The ADEQ filed the proposal for the Regulation 6 revisions to be considered at North Little Rock.