Who is protecting us

Hog wash!

You may ask, "Why hasn't the U of A Division of Agriculture's Big Creek Research Extension Team reported or confirmed that hog-waste cesspools are leaking at C&H Hog Farms?"

Like me, maybe you thought they're there to safeguard the Buffalo National River, or that they are there monitoring the runoff and groundwater for the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality.

The published mission statement of the Big Creek team is "demonstrating and monitoring the sustainable management of nutrients on C&H Farm in Big Creek Watershed."

The mission statement of the Division of Agriculture mentions that it is to "ensure a safe, nutritious food supply," and ends with "and strengthen Arkansas families."

But our Department of Environmental Quality proclaims, "We protect, enhance and restore the natural environment for the well-being of all Arkansans."

So only the Department of Environmental Quality is protecting us neighbors. How is that working out for you?

Don't feel safe? You think Governor Hutchinson will come to the rescue? Why do you think so?

DUANE WOLTJEN

Save the Buffalo River

Praise for Mike Masterson! Let him continue writing about the Buffalo River and possibly save it from ruin by a truly stinking corporation. The public should wake up and smell the pig feces and its owners.

BILL THURMAN

Complacency in state

It is clear to me that nobody who has the power to do anything wants to take responsibility for the pollution threatening the Buffalo National River by the C&H hog facility in Newton County. The state Department of Environmental Quality, the governor, and the EPA regional office have been unresponsive to any scientific knowledge that this facility was ill-placed on karst topography or that recent imaging has raised alarm that large amounts of hog waste is likely present under the lagoons. It seems this fact was actually omitted in pertinent published reports by the team from the University of Arkansas tasked with using our tax money to monitor the river's pollution from the hog facility.

It is difficult to ascertain what its mission really is. Perhaps the mission statement has changed. It appears that its findings do not accurately reflect the entirety of the environmental impact that the thousands of gallons of untreated hog waste have on the Buffalo National River.

Perhaps we are getting too complacent about how our tax dollars are used in Arkansas.

PATTI KENT

Issue will not go away

Perhaps if you tell your readers to Google "Buffalo River hog farm protest" they will see why there is a big stink on the Buffalo. This is an issue that will not go away.

JOE GOLDEN

Harrison