MIKE MASTERSON: Aftershocks Scant studies By Mike Masterson Posted: January 16, 2018 at 4:30 a.m. NWAOnline There have been plenty of aftershocks triggered by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality’s unexpected decision to deny C&H Hog Farms’ application for a revised operating permit. Many wondered on social media why the farrowing […]
Money isn’t everything By RICHARD MASON This article was published today at 1:57 a.m. Isn’t the overriding goal of a society to steadily improve the quality of life of its people? Everyone would agree with that statement, but the how-to’s are the sticky questions, and there are as many answers […]
MIKE MASTERSON: Permit denied Cynicism rises By Mike Masterson Posted: January 14, 2018 at 1:50 a.m. NWAOnline The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality’s decision to reject a revised operating permit for C&H Hog Farms in the Buffalo National River watershed brought welcome surprise for many Arkansans. In appearing to finally move […]
Listen to the story here: Arkansas Public Media Embattled Buffalo River Industrial Swine Farm Denied New Operating Permit By JACQUELINE FROELICH The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality late Wednesday denied a new permit to C&H Hog Farms, the state’s largest industrial swine breeding facility to maintain operations in rural Newton County. […]
Arkansas hog farm seeks to stay state’s denial of operating permit Emily Walkenhorst NWAOnline Attorneys for C&H Hog Farms have filed a request to stay the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality’s decision to deny the farm a new operating permit to replace its expired one and effectively shut down the […]
State denies hog farm’s revised permit request By Emily Walkenhorst NWAOnline The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality has denied C&H Hog Farms’ application for a new operating permit in the Buffalo National River’s watershed. The decision ends 643 days — just more than 21 months — of waiting since C&H applied […]
Hog farm’s request for new permit languishing By Emily Walkenhorst NWAOnline Sunday was the 640th day since C&H Hog Farms applied for a new permit for its Mount Judea concentrated animal feeding operation, and it remains unclear when the farmers will learn the outcome of their request. C&H, which abuts a […]
2 states’ river feud clearing up; phosphorus still high in the Illinois, but levels dropping By Emily Walkenhors Once an avid camper and canoeist, Ed Brocksmith no longer visits the Illinois River in east Oklahoma. These days Brocksmith fishes for smallmouth bass and sand bass at Horseshoe Bend, located on the […]
Raising of fowl increasing in parts of Arkansas; concerns arise about monitoring poultry litter By Emily Walkenhorst Posted: January 2, 2018 at 4:30 a.m. NWAOnline While poultry litter has been attributed as a source of pollution in the Illinois River in Northwest Arkansas and Oklahoma, it isn’t regulated outside that region […]
This is an excerpt from Rex Nelson’s column in regard to trends in Arkansas. The excerpt we’ve reproduced here is in regard to the trend on conservation. Find Rex’s unabridged column here: NWAOnline Some trends that matter By Rex Nelson Posted: December 31, 2017 at 1:46 a.m. It was a […]
arkansasonline New plan makes recommendations to reduce pollution of 1 Arkansas river Draft has advice to preserve river By Emily Walkenhorst A draft of the Buffalo River Watershed Management Plan is complete. The plan, commissioned by the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, makes numerous recommendations for reducing the amount of pollutants that […]
MASTERSON ONLINE: Waitin’ on da judge By Mike Masterson Posted: December 30, 2017 at 2:29 a.m Count me among Arkansans wondering when, after almost four months so far, Circuit Judge John Putman will issue his findings in a case involving the controversial C&H Hog Farms at Mount Judea. Four weeks is […]
REX NELSON: Damming the state By Rex Nelson Posted: December 17, 2017 at 4:30 a.m. NWAOnline The floods were frequent and intense in Yell and Perry counties during the 1920s and 1930s. While historians focus on the effect the Great Flood of 1927 had on the eastern half of the state, […]
Arkansasonline Letter to Editor Force agency to work How many times have I heard that over-regulation is costing too much? Regulations don’t just happen. Usually they are in response to a situation revealing the need for them. When industries were disposing of factory waste by flushing it into the nearest […]
Smoke gets in their eyes House passes Westerman’s forest bill; Senate should say no By Fran Alexander Posted: December 5, 2017 at 1 a.m. This upside-down world we’re living in leaves us questioning not only what we are told, but distrustful that our facts might actually be fallacies. Up is down, […]
Buffalo River talk to spotlight algae By Emily Walkenhorst Posted: December 3, 2017 at 3:24 a.m. NWAOnline The Beautiful Buffalo River Action Committee will hold another meeting this week, according to a news release from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality. The committee will hear a presentation from the Arkansas Harmful […]
NWAonline Another hog factory Leaking waste By Mike Masterson Just when I thought our state’s politicized environmental protection agency made the biggest debacle of its checkered history by allowing C&H Hog Farms into our karst-laden Buffalo National River watershed, I learn the leaking Sanders Farm began operating in the watershed during […]
‘Limited impact’ seen near hog farm By Emily Walkenhorst Posted: November 27, 2017 at 1 a.m. NWAOnline Researchers in the University of Arkansas System say the stream next to C&H Hog Farms in Newton County has phosphorous and nitrogen levels akin to other similar streams in northern Arkansas. In a research […]
Environment notebook By Emily Walkenhorst ‘Limited impact’ seen near hog farm Researchers in the University of Arkansas System say the stream next to C&H Hog Farms in Newton County has phosphorous and nitrogen levels akin to other similar streams in northern Arkansas. In a research letter published this fall in Agricultural & […]
Agency draws 17 remarks on water Analysis of rivers, lakes reassessed By Emily Walkenhorst Concerns about the Buffalo River and available data figured prominently in comments submitted to the state’s environmental agency about its amended plan to assess water bodies. The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality is reworking the guidelines it […]