Eureka Springs Independent

Summary judgment sought in hog factory lawsuit
Becky Gillette
Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Earthjustice recently filed an 89-page document in support of a summary judgment in the lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for providing $3.4 million in loan guarantees for C&H Hog Farm, a pig factory located on the Big Creek tributary of the Buffalo National River (BNR), the country’s first national river.
Earthjustice is a non-profit environmental firm representing the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance (BRWA), the Ozark Society and the National Parks Conservation Association in the lawsuit.
“The rubber-stamping of the requested loan guarantees, the inadequate review of the environmental consequences, and the failure to notify the local community and consult with sister agencies as required, makes a mockery of the law and puts a national treasure in harm’s way,” said Hannah Chang, an attorney with Earthjustice.
C&H Hog Farms received a loan, 90 percent of it guaranteed by the FSA, for the purchase of 23.43 acres of land in Mount Judea and construction of two barns. The barns have the capacity for 6,500 pigs, making the operation by far the largest of six existing swine farms in the Buffalo River Watershed. C&H Hog Farms is under contract with Cargill, an agribusiness giant that operates in 66 countries.
Plans are to spread about two million gallons of waste produced by the C&H facility on 17 fields totaling 630 acres. Eleven fields are adjacent to Big Creek.
The C&H facility’s loan and guarantee were issued in the summer and fall of 2012. Earthjustice said in its recent filing that because of a failure to notify residents, the community in and around Mount Judea did not find out about the facility’s construction until it was nearly complete.
“The lack of adequate public notice is just one of a number of egregious failures on the part of the state and federal government to ensure that this facility will not have detrimental impacts on the exceptional natural resources of the Buffalo River watershed,” Earthjustice said.
Lin Welford of Green Forest, who is active with area watershed protection groups, said that in the recent filing, Earthjustice presents a strong picture of negligence, and attempts to cover up the lack of due diligence on the part of all parties being sued in the lawsuit.
The recent filing asks the court to set aside existing loan guarantees until such time as the defendants comply with the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Buffalo National River Enabling act, and their own regulations in reviewing and authorizing loan guarantees for C&H.
“Under the Administrative Policy Act (APA), this court is authorized to ‘hold unlawful and set aside agency action, findings, and conclusions that are arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law,” the filing states.
Earthjustice said as a result of violations of notice requirements, a large amount of federal financial assistance was provided to the first-ever large Confined Animal feeding Operation (CAFO) in the leaky karst terrain of the Buffalo River watershed. The National Park Service was never given the opportunity to comment on the project that has potential to significantly impact public safety and the environment.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction to serve the public by protecting the environment from any threat of permanent damage.
C&H is not named in the lawsuit, but could be affected by the ruling. C&H owners have said they are in compliance with state laws. They received a permit after the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) changed regulations to allow permitting of CAFOs without notifying local residents. ADEQ adopted a CAFO General Permit that supporters of the BNR say allows fast tracking of permit approvals, is scientifically inadequate, and strongly favors special interests.
Karst geologist Dr. John Van Brahana is currently conducting monitoring in the watershed to determine if hog waste is entering the BNR. Brahana said that producing pork in the leaky, karst hydrogeologic area rich with springs, caves and underground rivers is “horribly risky.” He said the secretive nature of the project completely disregarded the concerns of legitimate stakeholders such as the National Park Service and local tourism operations, and ADEQ did not adequately review the permit; the head of ADEQ didn’t even know the permit had been issued until after the fact.
“The review was pitiful,” Brahana said, a University of Arkansas professor emeritus. “An environmental firm from South Dakota came up with the waste management plan which is completely inadequate in a karst area like this. The owner says they were just following the rules, but the rules are inadequate to protect the environment.”
The National Park Service has already found elevated levels of fecal coliform – an indicator of animal waste pathogens – in Big Creek. Area resident Pam Fowler said when she and relatives recently visited the old Sexton Cemetery in Mt. Judea on Memorial Day, odors from the pig factory were disgusting.
“We stepped out of the car to a horrendous and overwhelming stench of hog manure and, I guess, burning hogs – distinct singed-hair smell – and the nightmarish sound of shrieking hogs,” Fowler said. “A horror film couldn’t have had more unnerving sounds. I had to tie a scarf over my face to breathe as we worked quickly to escape back into our car.”
Fowler, whose family has lived in the area for generations, said it appears their concerns about the hog factory have become a reality. “This Memorial Day, I mourned not only our loved ones who have passed on, but also I mourned our loss of enjoyment of traditional outdoor activities – which is a loss of life as we’ve known it in our little valley.”