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Letter to the Editor: Gov. Stitt needs to follow Arkansas governor's lead on protecting northeastern Oklahoma water Pam Kingfisher, Rose Jun 25, 2019

26 Jun 2019 6:30 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

Tulsa World



Letter to the Editor: Gov. Stitt needs to follow Arkansas governor's lead on protecting northeastern Oklahoma water

Pam Kingfisher, Rose 

  • Jun 25, 2019
As we watch the Arkansas hog farm permitting boondoggle play out in the press, it’s heartbreaking to know that our Oklahoma agencies have no care for the citizens nor the environment of our region.

Many neighbors protested well applications, as we know that our aquifers are porous.

We also know that Oklahoma Water Resources Board and Oklahoma Department of Agriculture don’t include a detailed geological investigation prior to permitting new poultry feeding operations.

In admitting permitting errors, the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality cited “…water-quality issues and insufficient geological investigations into the karst terrain underneath the facility."

The hog farm should have conducted a "detailed geological investigation" of the karst topography where manure might be kept or applied as fertilizer, the Arkansas DEQ writes in its 10-page denial of an operating permit.

The state of Arkansas will buy out the hog farm for $6.2 million and then pay for and conduct the clean-up.

Arkansas will be paying for ADEQ’s mistakes for many years. Just as the good citizens of northeast Oklahoma will be paying for ODEQ and ODAFF’s lack of regulations for the rest of our lives.

Gov. Stitt should follow the prudent lead of Arkansas Gov. Hutchinson’s temporary ban on poultry and hog farms in the karst watershed.

Please stop the rubber stamping of permits. We must protect our aquifers for the future.

 Pam Kingfisher, Rose

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