Arkansasonline
On the hog factory Opinions differ By Mike Masterson It's become apparent in light of two editorials published by the newspaper that a number of my valued readers are confused by the difference in tone and approach between what I express in my column and the newspaper's opinions about coverage of the controversial C&H Hog Farms in Mount Judea. The confusion is understandable considering how until a few years ago, I was writing my column while also serving as the editorial page editor of the paper's Northwest edition. My columns about the factory over two-plus years have addressed numerous public concerns over what some experts predict will be the inevitable contamination of the Buffalo National River, the first stream to be so designated in America. My position on enormous amounts of hog waste likely polluting this treasured river has been (like other matters I'm passionate about) beyond obvious. They differ dramatically with the opinions of the editorial writers who, in editorials published on May 5 and May 18, referred to sustained coverage of developments involving the hog factory with 6,500 swine as "the state's longest-running bore," and "we're sick and tired of the whole subject, distraction and sideshow. Enough! Who needs it?" My opinion: As a lifelong journalist, my bent always has been to keep a light intently focused on issues of significant public concern, particularly where government actions and inactions deserve to be questioned and fully scrutinized. Many unanswered questions and unrevealed truths certainly remain here. My point today is for readers to simply be aware that my approach and interests in protecting our only precious national river (that attracts some 56 million tourist dollars annually) obviously differs significantly from that of the paper's editorial writers. The way this factory has so obviously been mishandled by our state agencies and those in power will continue, to me, to be a significant national story by any standard and well-deserving of continued in-depth reporting and commentary. I've certainly never seen the subject as boring or a distracting sideshow. I'd appreciate knowing how you feel about this subject since you're the ones who subscribe and purchase the newspaper. Are you bored with the matter? Here's a smattering of recent letters I've received from readers statewide who clearly aren't: Former GOP congressman Ed Bethune writes: "C&H and Big Creek Research are doing everything they can to prevent a scientific finding the ponds have leaked. In light of how they've positioned themselves, an adverse finding would be devastating. It would undercut all the soothing assurances they have given to the public. This is why they're resisting. Intentionally, I think. At a minimum they are guilty of 'indifference.'" Vic writes: "Has anyone considered the amount of rainwater that runs into the lagoons? Many extra gallons of wastewater over the last three years ... Imagine the mess trying to clean out the lagoons to put in a plastic liner. Where would they take the sludge? Where would they put the daily output of waste while they are doing the liner? If they line the ponds they would have a lot more waste to spray. They are running out of places to put it...This thing could end up being a superfund site." Rick writes: "Your articles have been a topic of conversation at my local beer joint for years from all the articles you wrote about Janie Ward and now the hog factory. We all are in agreement there is a lot more stink than the hog waste ... We want you to keep writing and don't give up until something's done ... Don't give up, more people are behind you than you probably realize." Roger writes: "I'm a longtime reader of your columns. Thanks for your efforts on behalf of preserving the Buffalo and ... having the literary courage to speak frankly about sensitive issues. I'm old enough to remember how difficult it was to save the Buffalo River the first time around." Jerry writes: "I hardly ever agree with you politically. But what a pleasure to have a conservative conservationist on the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Your active participation in exposing this to the public makes you a champion of the people and state ... Enjoyed the column "Findings raise questions" immensely ... It cannot and should not be swept under the table." Karl writes regarding the Big Creek Research and Extension Team saying it doesn't need to drill beneath the waste lagoons at C&H: "Obviously, what one doesn't admit or determine exists one also can deny responsibility for correcting. Keep facts at a distance and shout, 'We didn't know!' Then continue to ignore the imminent damage, so as not to gore the oxen of the moneyed class. It's plain as the nose on their faces." Marti writes: "Thank you for continuing to bring the C&H CAFO issue to light ... Much (most) of the coverage is pro Farm Bureau and Pork Producers lobbying interests. They must have some pretty slick PR people." ------------v------------ Mike Masterson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at mmasterson@arkansasonline.com. Editorial on 05/31/2016
NWAonline
Lacks understanding
As evidenced by two recent editorials in the Democrat-Gazette, it appears that the editorial writers lack understanding of the issues and of the Buffalo River's importance to the state of Arkansas.
The first editorial seemed to imply that, with the decision to do away with the general permit, there would be no more hog concentrated feeding operations in Arkansas. But it appears operators can apply for an individual permit to operate under Regulation 5. Therefore, if the five-year moratorium should be lifted in the Buffalo River watershed, more operations of this nature could proliferate.
The second editorial stated they were sick of this hog-factory issue. Really?
Besides being the aesthetic crown jewel of Arkansas, the Buffalo River in 2015 generated $56.6 million in visitor spending. Tourism-related jobs total over 900 in the area. That is the kind of economic plus needed.
Recently the state of Arkansas produced All About Arkansas, a book serving as promotional material to attract businesses to our Natural State. Guess what figures in it? The Buffalo River, of course.
It is my hope that those who have the good sense to speak out for what they know is precious shall continue to work for the protections that the Buffalo River deserves.
It is also my hope that the Democrat-Gazette will provide balanced and in-depth hard-news reporting on this issue. The readership expects no less.
GINNY MASULLO
Fayetteville
By Emily Walkenhorst
Posted: May 27, 2016 at 2:38 a.m. Updated: May 27, 2016 at 2:38 a.m.
The department approved C&H Hog Farms' application to install synthetic liners above the clay bottoms that hold the hog manure at the two manure ponds on the facility in Newton County. Messages concerning questions about the department's role in installing the liners going forward -- or whether it had one at all -- went unanswered by the department Thursday.
C&H owners have applied to conduct numerous activities on the farm site, including installing the liners, to assuage concerns of those who oppose the presence of the facility and its large volume of hog manure in the river's watershed, which is the area around the river in which water and sediment may run into the river.
But none of the proposals has satisfied several groups that have organized in opposition to the only large concentrated animal feeding operation in the watershed.
During the Pollution Control and Ecology Commission meeting Thursday at the department's headquarters in North Little Rock, Heber Springs attorney Richard Mays, on behalf of the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance, asked the department not to install the liners yet at the facility. Mays said doing so would be "premature and foolish" until research is done to find out whether the ponds are polluting.
Commissioner Wesley Stites, a biochemistry professor and chairman of the chemistry and biochemistry department at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, said he didn't follow the logic of the request, summarizing it as "there might be a leak, and we don't want you to put in a liner that might stop the leak."
"So you're concerned about the leak, but you're not concerned about the leaking occurring during the investigation?" Stites said. "I don't understand this at all."
Mays said the group was concerned about any leaks occurring at C&H but that installation of the liners and the accompanying transfer of hog manure could exacerbate any existing issues at the facility.
The Buffalo River Watershed Alliance, along with three other groups that make up the Buffalo River Coalition, has asked the department to halt operations at C&H until more research can be conducted at the site.
The Big Creek Research and Extension Team, which operates out of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and is monitoring C&H's impact on its environment for five years, has declined to dodrilling requested by those who oppose the C&H farm. The team will tentatively discuss the issue before the Pollution Control and Ecology Commission next month.
The Coalition wants the department and the Big Creek Research and Extension Team to conduct drilling near the manure ponds to determine if the ponds are leaking. The groups requested the drilling after data taken under the holding ponds during a separate research project on the farm's fields where hog manure is applied as fertilizer showed what one researcher said was higher-than-expected moisture. That researcher, Todd Halihan, a professor of hydrogeophysics and hydrogeology of fractured and karstic aquifers at Oklahoma State University, said drilling into the ground could find what is causing the test results. He also said installing liners would address the issue.
Opponents of C&H have raised questions previously about how the department would go about installing liners in the already-filled ponds, but are concerned that their pleas for additional research near the ponds will go unheeded if the liners are installed.
"Our concern is that if they do install those liners before they do the drilling, then they're just going to say the drilling isn't necessary," Buffalo River Watershed Alliance President Gordon Watkins said after the meeting.
Watkins said if the facility has been leaking hog manure into the ground, that would constitute a permit violation for which the facility should be punished. Installing liners without drilling could mean that any pollution that may have occurred would go unaccounted for, he said.
Metro on 05/27/2016
Buffalo River Currents
CONWAY, Ark. (May 26, 2016) – A dozen Hendrix College students recently spent a week examining the Buffalo National River on an interdisciplinary Odyssey experience that included oral history collection, creative reflection, hiking, and floating, along with more traditional academic work.
The students, who received Odyssey credit in the Special Projects category, were accompanied by Hendrix faculty, including politics professor Dr. Jay Barth, history professor Dr. Jonathan Hancock, and creative writing professor and Hendrix-Murphy Foundation Director Hope Coulter.
The “Buffalo River Currents” experience was underwritten by the Bill and Connie Bowen Odyssey Professorship, which Dr. Barth currently holds.
“This project examined the original battle that lead to the christening of the Buffalo as the first National River in 1972 through visits with key individuals involved in that long policy battle,” said Barth. “We then turned our focus to the current battle over the C&H hog farm near Mount Judea. We visited with one of the farm owners and with opponents to the project,” said Barth. “Students also carried out four oral interviews with locals to gain insight into the reactions to the farm and how it is impacting their responses to the River.”
"Getting to explore the debate around the C & H hog farm in Mount Judea was fascinating, both because we were able to really engage with both side's point of view and because we were able to get a sense of the unique sense of community in Newton County that is framing this debate," said Goodwin.
Hendrix biology professor Dr. George Harper discussed the natural history of the Buffalo region with students. Among the many activities were a panel discussion with University of Arkansas film professor and documentary filmmaker Larry Foley, geologist Dr. Walt Manger, ornithologist Dr. Kim Smith, and Ouachita Baptist University chemist Dr. Joe Nix; a program on oral history methods at the David and Barbara Pryor Center; a hike at Lost Valley led by former State Geologist for Arkansas John David McFarland; a meeting with Ellen Compton, daughter of environmentalist Neil Compton, University of Arkansas Special Collectionscurator Janet Parsch, and Ozark Society member and Hendrix alumnus Tom Perry ’72; a meeting with Buffalo Outdoor Center proprietor, environmental advocate, and Hendrix alumnus Mike Mills ’74; a birding hike with nature/travel writer and Hendrix alumnus Mel White ’72.
“In a week’s time, we learned about the geologic formations that make northern Arkansas unique, we identified a plethora of birds that are endemic to the region, and we investigated the political atmosphere in Newton county and the surrounding areas that have lent themselves to the formation of such a heated crisis like the one brought about by the C&H hog farms,” said Peterson. “I was fascinated by the intricate relationship between humans and the environment in the Buffalo River watershed and this trip provided me the ultimate microscopic look at the issue.”
“Talking to environmentalists, area residents, the hog farmers, and other experts in fields associated with the issues at hand, gave me a better understanding of just how multifaceted this issue is,” said Peterson. “The interdisciplinary nature of the trip allowed us to look at the history of the region and the fights for the buffalo in the past, work on public relation and technology skills as we interviewed area residents about their experiences with the issue, and also immersing ourselves in the literature relevant to our areas of study.”
“The Buffalo River Currents trip showed me the value of using an interdisciplinary lens when examining local or regional issues. I learned so much about writing, history, politics all while experiencing Arkansas history and nature,” said Zaidi. “It was an eye-opening trip because we had the opportunity to talk to people who are deeply connected to the Buffalo River region and Arkansas. Most of all, I’m so grateful to have fostered new relationships with peers and professors all while floating the Buffalo, birding, and hiking!”
About Hendrix College
Hendrix College is a private liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas. Founded in 1876 and affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884, Hendrix is featured in Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think about Colleges and is nationally recognized in numerous college guides, lists, and rankings for academic quality, community, innovation, and value. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.
Eureka Springs Independent
Hog farm must go, and can
May 25, 2016
Editor,
It has been three years now since AEP/SWEPCO sent our small town into a tizzy with their injudicious proposal to run a humongous power line through our beautiful community. We successfully fought off SWEPCO’s misanthropic misadventure.
About the same time, the hog farm on the Buffalo National River was approved and built, and continues to exist despite growing evidence it is damaging our state’s most precious and important National Park. People concerned with closing the hog farm have asked the secret of our success in stopping SWEPCO.
First we had the leadership of Pat Costner. Second, we had a community that stood united against it. Third, we had strong evidence against the need for it and fourth, we had great press coverage.
Regulatory agencies’ purpose is not to protect the public, but to enable corporations to get what they want. When it comes to dealing with regulatory agencies, it’s best to start with the knowledge that they will not take any steps to protect us that we are unwilling or unable to force them to take.
I urge those interested in protecting tourism and the environment to contact the governor’s office and the head of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and urge them to close the hog farm as soon as possible to prevent any further damage to one of our state’s most important resources. Governor Asa Hutchinson (501) 682-2345;
Becky Keogh, Director of the ADEQ (501) 682-0959
Please attend the meeting at the UU fellowship on Elk St. Thursday night from 7-8:30 p.m. Dr. Van Brahana will present the latest report on independent monitoring efforts and the growing evidence of impairment.
Doug Stowe
By Marti Oleson and Lisa R. Pruitt Special to the Democrat-Gazette
Everyone loves the Buffalo National River, and everyone supports caring for this Arkansas treasure. Opinions vary sharply, however, on what such care requires.
An industrial hog farm in the Buffalo River watershed currently threatens the destruction of the state's most iconic natural resource and risks a public health crisis in one of Arkansas' most impoverished places. Gov. Asa Hutchinson must act now to prevent further damage to the Buffalo and to protect those living in its watershed. He can do so by ordering subsurface drilling to determine definitively the presence of swine-waste contamination.
The Buffalo has been called Arkansas' gift to the nation, and all of us are stakeholders in this national park. But some communities have more at stake than others. The Buffalo flows primarily through Newton and Searcy counties, two of the poorest in the state and, indeed, the nation. In its 2012 authorization of the concentrated animal feeding operation on Big Creek, a major tributary of the Buffalo, the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality failed to acknowledge the depth and persistence of poverty in these Ozarks highlands counties. This poverty, as well as lack of meaningful notice of the permit application, made the siting of the 6,500-hog operation--just across Big Creek from Mount Judea School--a textbook example of environmental injustice. Concerned citizens have since pushed for close governmental oversight of the CAFO.
Now, evidence presented to the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission in April indicates a "possible fracture and major movement of waste" beneath the CAFO's swine waste lagoons. This evidence is from Dr. Todd Halihan, an Oklahoma State University geologist with whom the Big Creek Research and Extension Team contracted to perform "non-invasive subsurface ... visualization." The Big Creek team receives state funds to monitor the CAFO's environmental impact, yet when Halihan's investigation suggested swine waste in the groundwater, it did not disclose it. Halihan's research saw the light of day only though Freedom of Information requests.
Halihan's findings demand a program of subsurface drilling to assess with certainty what is happening to the groundwater. The underground channels and conduits characteristic of the porous karst there can quickly transport E. coli, nitrates, and other toxins far and wide. If swine waste is reaching the groundwater, the health of area residents--many of whom rely on well water--is threatened.
Meanwhile, the CAFO is also undermining the region's economic well-being. The operation's owners initially promised to create local jobs and generate property-tax revenue, but the CAFO has done precious little of either. It pays just $7,000 in annual property taxes and, according to the CAFO owners, has created only eight jobs. Further, by undermining the health of the Buffalo itself, the CAFO is threatening the $56.6 million that ecotourism visitors spend annually, which generates nearly 900 jobs in gateway communities plus substantial sales-tax revenue.
Three years after the CAFO began operating, mounting evidence indicates that it is severely damaging the Buffalo. In addition to the threat of groundwater contamination, the swine-waste application fields along Big Creek are at "above optimum" levels of phosphorus, according to University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension soil tests. Storms churn up and release phosphorus-laden clay as turbidity into the Buffalo.
If the governor visited the confluence of Big Creek with the Buffalo, he would see the damage firsthand, visible as it is to the naked eye. Yet the Department of Environmental Quality appears to be in denial about this devastation, turning a blind eye to all data except that generated by the Big Creek team. But the team has a conflict of interest because it also consults with the CAFO on issues of sustainability. This conflict is well-illustrated by the team's failure to make timely disclosure of Halihan's troubling findings. In refusing to collaborate with those who should be natural allies in stewardship of the Buffalo, the state ignores available, objective scientific data that paint a more complete picture of the damage wrought by the CAFO.
Governor Hutchinson must act now to ensure the well-being of the Buffalo River watershed and its residents. No less than with Flint, Michigan's water crisis, the health of highly vulnerable citizens is at stake, and a governor has the power to protect them. In Arkansas' case, an executive order mandating a program of investigative drilling would kill the proverbial two birds with one stone, also helping prevent further ruination of a wilderness gem.
In his comments to the Pollution Control and Ecology Commission last month, former Congressman Ed Bethune cautioned, "if we turn out to be the people who have to report to the world that there's hog doin's in the Buffalo, it's going to be a sad day for Arkansas."
It will be an even sadder day if the governor's failure to investigate creates a public health crisis in the watershed.
------------v------------
Marti Olesen is a 26-year resident of Newton County and a retired public school multimedia specialist. Lisa R. Pruitt is a fifth-generation native of Newton County and the Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law at the University of California at Davis.
Editorial on 05/23/2016
Disappointing stance
It's well-known that journalists are trained to be skeptical, but two recent editorials about the hog factory in Mount Judea reveal a flippancy and lack of sensitivity that does not serve the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette well.
"About those hog farms" and "No more hog farms" bemoan the ongoing controversy about the risk to our Natural State's most iconic natural treasure, the Buffalo River, characterizing further discussion about impending pollution as tedious, boring, and useless. It would almost seem that the editorial writers have not visited the Buffalo and lack an understanding of its importance to our distant corner of the state.
If more local landmarks like the Clinton Library, Oaklawn, or Riverfront Park were under threat of destruction, would they be so glib and insensitive? If Central High was on a path to be condemned to the wrecking ball, would they be so dismissive?
At some point, we all will feel a threat to someone or something we hold precious, and that threat will be real and palpable, and perhaps ongoing. In those moments, imagine hearing the words uttered by the Democrat-Gazette--"we're sick and tired of the whole subject, distraction and sideshow. Enough!"--and you get a sense of how callous, disappointing and even childish this position is from our state's most prominent newspaper.
GORDON WATKINS
Parthenon
What about those multiple plumes of suspicious leakage discovered by an Oklahoma State University geologist deep beneath the clay-lined waste lagoons at C&H Hog Farms at Mount Judea?
While Dr. Todd Halihan stopped short of calling the substance hog waste, other knowledgeable scientists say the results imply groundwater contaminants "suggestive of waste" have indeed been leaking into the limestone karst beneath the lagoons for at least a year.
Halihan, you may recall, offered in 2015 to help arrange for drilling at no cost to acquire samples of the leakage that would easily either confirm or refute the findings from his equipment, which shows the amount of electrical resistivity underground.
A recent news story by reporter Emily Walkenhorst quoted Andrew Sharpley of the Big Creek Research and Extension Team saying his group sees no need to drill and learn what the stuff actually is. Yep. You read that right.
They apparently are content to remain blissfully ignorant of learning whether the stuff Halihan has documented through science is waste, clay or Nutella. Can't say as I blame them since, if it is hog waste, the Big Creek team would not only look bad for not revealing Halihan's results many months ago, but for not themselves discovering the mess. I'd call such an approach preferring comfortable political science and denial over painfully uncomfortable scientific confirmation.
Halihan conducted his tests beneath the waste lagoons and on several spray fields in March 2015 in conjunction with a contract requested by the Cooperative Extension Service and Sharpley's team. That UA team was established by former Gov. Mike Beebe to monitor environmental effects of the factory on the Buffalo National River watershed. The magnificent Buffalo flows less than seven miles downstream from this factory that spreads raw waste it generates across fields adjacent to Big Creek, a major tributary of the river.
The OSU professor apparently provided the results of his testing shortly after his studies were complete. Afterwards, Halihan is said to have offered to arrange for sample drilling to see whether the suspicious plumes that show up distinctly on the professor's charts are indeed hog waste.
Halihan's offer was declined at the time. I'd have jumped at Halihan's offer to determine the truth and promptly disclosed the results.
Today, well over a year has passed since those tests. Even as a layman, I must assume the plumes have continued to infiltrate the subsurface to possibly enter the underground fractures and fissures that are characteristic of the pervasive karst terrain.
I've seen how Halihan's tests of the area beneath four corners of the factory's dual lagoons reflect significant patches and streaks of purple at the lower ends at depths between 90 and 120 feet. That matters because the color purple on his transects represents the presence of easily conductive wet matter such as waste. In the factory's surrounding spray fields, Halihan's test shows only the single field most recently sprayed with hog waste from the lagoons reflected the same color purple to a depth of about 10 feet.
If the stuff beneath is clay, as Sharpley and his team surmise, why doesn't "clay" show up in the other fields not recently sprayed, and as pervasive around the clay-lined lagoons? Even Halihan said in Walkenhorst's story that he didn't believe his study reflects simply clay.
So what happens now, since Halihan's findings were finally made public the other day at a meeting of the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission? Does no responsible tax-paid public servant feel the need to know exactly what Halihan's testing discovered? Commissioners and the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (cough) all claimed they didn't know of Halihan's disturbing revelations until that meeting just the other day. Why not?
The question remains: Just when did the Big Creek team know of Halihan's results anyway?
Why weren't relatively inexpensive test drillings performed to settle the issue conclusively?
At this point, I believe public pressure to do right falls squarely on the shoulders of the Pollution Control and Ecology Commission, Department of Environmental Quality, and our governor. And I know those folks at the University of Arkansas Divison of Agriculture should quickly secure an independent agency to perform the sampling beneath the lagoons. This matter is simply too important to our state and our national river to needlessly settle for assumptions and uncertainty.
If it turns out the plumes are clay or even peanut butter, at least the people of Arkansas will know. Let's suppose science determines all this leaking is from the lagoon's clay liners; wouldn't gravity also say the raw waste those liners were supposed to contain follows on its heels?
Posted: May 15, 2016 at 3:21 a.m.
Opponents of a Newton County hog farm near the Buffalo River have asked the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality to shut down the farm near Mount Judea in light of new data, but researchers caution that the data are inconclusive.
Several organizations opposed to C&H Hog Farms recently spoke before the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission regarding research conducted by an Oklahoma State University team on behalf of the Big Creek Research and Extension Team.
The Big Creek team, created to research C&H Hog Farms' impact on its surrounding environment, is funded with Arkansas rainy-day funds and operates out of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. The team has operated for three years, and researchers hope it will continue for at least another two.
Research conducted last spring and made available this spring measured electroresistivity of the ground beneath three plots of land on karst terrain near the Buffalo National River. Electroresistivity imaging indicates to researchers how dry or wet the ground below the surface is. Ground that is resistant to electricity is dry. Electricity-conductive ground is wet.
The three plots were all different. One was where C&H had recently spread hog manure on the soil. Another was where C&H had applied manure less recently, and the third was where no manure had been spread.
Electroresistivity was found to be higher where manure had been applied.
The results prompted opponents of the hog farm to tell the Pollution Control and Ecology Commission that the river was potentially in danger of pollution from the farm, and they requested that the farm be shut down until further research can be conducted.
Numerous people, including former U.S. Rep. Ed Bethune, R-Ark., told commissioners of their dismay about the test results. Bethune has opposed the department's permitting of C&H's operation, which is in the Big Creek area about 6 miles from where the creek meets the Buffalo National River.
"If I were a member of this commission, if I were the director of ADEQ, I would be outraged that I did not know about the findings of Oklahoma State University at this site a year ago," Bethune said.
The Buffalo National River -- the country's first national river -- is a popular tourist spot, with more than 1.3 million visitors in 2014 who spent about $56.5 million at area businesses, according to National Park Service data.
The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality is looking into the information presented at the meeting, chief technical officer Bob Blanz said.
"We're certainly interested in it because it can mean a number of different things, and we just need to find out what that is," Blanz said.
Department officials have spoken with the Big Creek team leader and University of Arkansas at Fayetteville environmental sciences professor Andrew Sharpley but had not spoken to any Oklahoma State University researchers as of Thursday morning.
Researchers have speculated among themselves about what caused the test results. They all agree that no cause can be determined on the basis of only one test.
Todd Halihan, the researcher from Oklahoma State University, where he is a professor of hydrogeophysics and hydrogeology of fractured and karstic aquifers, said the results could be because hog manure itself is conductive, or because microbes could be growing below the ground surface.
Halihan said he is inclined to believe the microbes explanation, but he has no samples of microbes to determine whether they are good or bad. Additional testing could detect that, he said.
The test results weren't distressing, Halihan said. While they detected the presence of manure on the ground surface, they did not show that anything alarming was occurring.
"There wasn't a huge amount [of manure] applied," he said. "We're not looking at a site with a big spill or a massive application over time."
He added that the amount of manure C&H had been applying as fertilizer to the land was "reasonable."
Researchers with the Big Creek Research and Extension Team had a different theory about the test results. They said clay in the upper layers of the ground beneath the hog manure is naturally more conductive.
Halihan disagreed, arguing that clay alone couldn't explain the test results.
But Big Creek team researchers -- including Sharpley; University of Arkansas at Fayetteville associate professor of geosciences Phil Hays; and UA System Division of Agriculture professor and extension engineer Karl VanDevender -- said they are confident that their theory is correct because no other testing done in the area has indicated pollution.
The research team regularly collects samples near the C&H farm, including from a 200-foot trench on the property. The researchers said none of their samples from the trench have caused them concern.
"If there was some leakage, we would pick it up in direct measurements," Sharpley said. "We do not see -- we're looking -- but we do not see anything [that shows that]."
In additional research done near a manure pond some distance from the three test sites, Halihan detected -- through electroresistivity imaging -- in one place conductivity seemed higher than expected given the geology of the land, indicating a potential ground fracture where manure could seep through.
Researchers could address that in two ways, he said. They could drill to see if a fracture exists or they could line the ponds with a protective liner instead of relying on its packed-clay bottoms and sides to prevent seepage.
The department has approved C&H for installing liners, but the farm would have to empty the ponds to install them, Blanz said.
To help with that, officials at EC Farms in Newton County have applied for a permit to increase the amount of hog manure allowed on its land. C&H could then transfer the manure from its ponds to EC Farms, and then install the liners in the empty ponds, Blanz said. That permit hasn't been approved.
As for drilling, the price of doing that would depend on the contractor and the type of sampling done, Halihan said, adding that a ballpark estimate would be $10,000.
The Big Creek research team doesn't plan to drill because it is confident in its test results and in those results being similar elsewhere in the area, said Rick Cartwright, professor and extension associate director for Agriculture and Natural Resources at the Division of Agriculture.
Big Creek researchers said electroresistivity imaging is useful technology, but it must be paired with additional research for accurate analysis. Current additional research doesn't indicate that the manure ponds are leaking, they said.
"We have five different types of direct measurement going on," Cartwright said. "None of them indicate leakage, contamination, movement. The large body of evidence doesn't really support drilling or additional probing at this time."
Buffalo River Watershed Alliance board member Dane Schumacher said a few thousands dollars for drilling isn't much compared with the hundreds of thousands already invested in research.
"It's not clear," she said. "It's their interpretation, and I think drilling needs to be done" to determine whether the moisture in the ground is because the soil is clay or because there's presence of hog waste.
She said taxpayers funding the Big Creek team would want a more thorough examination, especially because the experts disagree with one another.
"Why wouldn't you want to drill to confirm?" she said.
Metro on 05/15/2016