As a young adult, NOAA fisheries biologist and Arkansas native, Teresa Turk, camped along Big Creek, a tributary to the Buffalo National River. So when she learned that a new Confined Animal Feeding Operation had been permitted near Big Creek for more than six thousand swine, she decided to document potential threats to the watershed. In the process, she also documented being threatened by one of the farm contract waste operators (photo). The novice filmmaker is also part of an independent water quality monitoring team aiming to prove that the hog farm has placed the Buffalo in ecological peril. Her documentary is being screened at various film festivals, including the Eureka Springs Film Festival Saturday, April 25th at 1 p.m.. To learn more about efforts to preserve the watershed visit the Buffalo National River Alliance.
Harrison Daily Times
By DAVID HOLSTED davidh@harrisondaily.com |0 comments
JASPER — Several dozen people, supporters and opponents alike, were in attendance at the Jasper School on April 20 for a hearing concerning the C&H Hog Farm.
The 50-minute, orderly hearing was hosted by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ). The purpose was to hear comments on a proposed modification of the farm’s Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) under its Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation General Permit.
C&H Farm, which began operation in 2013, is located near Mt. Judea and handles about 6,500 hogs. The farm is located near Big Creek, a tributary of the Buffalo National River, and several groups have contended that waste from the farm eventually ends up in the Buffalo River. The animal waste is a threat to the environment and to the local tourist trade.
As explained by Ryan Benefeld, deputy director of the ADEQ, the proposed modification will affect on of the farm’s two waste storage ponds. Currently, wastewater from pond 1 is being applied to surrounding land by a combination of a pipeline/sprinkler system and a tanker wagon. Wastewater from pond 2 uses only a pipeline/sprinkler system, but C&H is requesting that a tanker also be allowed.
According to Benefeld, the ADEQ typically does not hold a public hearing for a modification request. However, a public request because of concern about the modification resulted in the Jasper hearing.
Benefeld was asked if the modification would result in change to the volume and frequency of wastewater application.
“We don’t anticipate any change,” Benefeld said. “We’re not expanding the application rate. That won’t change.”
Benefeld further explained that C&H would not need a permit to apply the waste to its own land, but if the waste was applied to a field owned by another person, that person would need a permit.
The hearing attracted several people from outside the area.
Brian Thompson was one of them, coming from Fayetteville. He described himself as retired from a large agricultural firm. He contended that C&H’s NMP was not clear, consistent or complete.
“Clarity, consistency and completion are an ongoing problem,” Thompson said.
He urged the ADEQ to return the application to the applicant for correction, then hold another hearing.
Gordon Watkins, who lives near Parthenon, is president of the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance. He also objected to the modification request. He thought the mapping and land use contracts needed to be corrected, and he contended that the full permit should be reopened.
Jane Darr is president of the North Fork and White Rivers. She drove over from the Mountain Home area to lend support to opponents of the hog farm. Darr noted that the Buffalo River flows into the White River. Water quality was at risk, she said, thereby subjecting the area to economic risks. She also urged a full review of the permit.
The modification was not without its supporters.
Ryan England, a dairy farmer from Bentonville, said he also used a tanker to apply waste to his land, and he followed ADEQ rules. The manure is tested, he said, and the land is tested.
“I think this is ridiculous that they have to do this modification,” England said.
Centerton cattle farmer Bob Shofner also supported C&H Farms. The application of waste to the land was an accepted practice in the agricultural industry, he said. The waste was “all natural organic fertilizer.”
According to Shofner, everything in connection with C&H Farms was done above board, with nothing hidden.
ADEQ staff at the hearing also provided attendees with a 59-page report titled “Monitoring the Sustainable Management of Nutrients on C&H Farm in Big Creek Watershed.” The report was a quarterly study done by the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture’s Big Creek Research and Extension Team.
The report is part of a five-year study, and according to Benefeld, officials haven’t yet seen anything alarming.
Benefeld went on to say that the ADEQ would probably make a decision on the modification request within the next week or two.
JASPER – A request to modify C&H Hog Farm's permit drew about 50 people to the Jasper School Cafetorium for a public hearing by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality. There were comments opposing the request as well as asking ADEQ to allow the modification.
Located near Mount Judea on Big Creek, a tributary of the Buffalo National River, the hog farm has generated controversy since beginning operation in 2014. Owned by three local families, C&H Hog Farm houses more than 6,000 sows and piglets at a time for Cargill Pork, keeping the piglets until they're weaned and taken outside Arkansas to be raised.
No action was taken on the request at Monday night's hearing, and Ryan Benefield, ADEQ deputy director, said it will be a few weeks before the agency announces a decision.
Benefield told the audience the request amounts to a "small change" in the farm's nutrient management plan. It would allow land application of wastewater from a secondary storage pond with a tanker wagon. Currently, water can be removed from the pond only by pipeline or a sprinkler system.
Responding to questions from the audience, Benefield said the difference between the main pond and the secondary one is the main pond contains more solid waste from the operation, whereas the secondary pond is mostly water, much of it rainwater.
"It's more concentrated, more solids in Pond 1," he explained after the meeting. "There is some overflow from Pond 1, but then it also has a lot of storm water. Pond 1 gets waste all the time; Pond 2 only gets it when 1 overflows through a planned overflow through the spillway."
According to Benefield, some of the water from the secondary pond has been recycled through the barns to clean them, but the owners want to remove the water from the pond and apply it to the drying fields. However, without a pipeline or sprinklers, they can't.
"They just simply can't apply by any other means," said Benefield.
One man from the audience asked why C&H hasn't installed a pipeline or sprinkler as was planned. Benefield said he didn't know the answer.
He did say, however, the wastewater from the secondary pond could be hauled by tanker to another location for land application, pointing out that the recipient would need a permit that allows such application.
After the question period, the floor was opened to those who had signed in to make comments.
Opponents and proponents
Brian Thompson, of Fayetteville, who said he was retired from the agriculture industry, opposed granting the permit modification. He contended the plan approved for the farm "is not clear, not correct and not complete." Thompson said the permit process should be reopened.
Gordon Watkins, of Parthenon, president of the Buffalo Watershed Alliance, also spoke against the request. He said the farm's permitted plan did not allow land application on two fields, but applications were made on them anyway during 2014. Watkins said there are problems and errors in the farm's plan, and that because of "numerous errors" in the paperwork, the full permit process should be reopened.
Jane Darr, of Cotter, president of Friends of the North Fork and White Rivers, said the potential for damage to the Buffalo's water quality is high because of the hog farm, as is the potential for the economic damage it could cause for the area. She urged ADEQ to deny the request and reopen the full permit process.
Ryan England, a dairy farmer from Bentonville, spoke in favor of granting the request, as did Bob Schafer, a beef cattle farmer from Centerton.
England said the request is just a redirection of applying the wastewater. He compared it to following a different road to a destination, saying it took different miles but had the same destination.
Schafer said the only difference from the current permit is the method of application. He said this is an accepted agricultural practice that applies all-natural, organic fertilizer on the land.
Working with Park Service
After the meeting, Benefield was asked about ADEQ's relationship with the National Park Service, which is responsible for the Buffalo. "We work with the Park Service a lot," he said. "We do a lot of the analysis, we do the testing for them. They gather the samples, our laboratory does the testing."
In March, the Park Service presented a program in Mountain Home showing that it's monitoring of Big Creek, and two points on the Buffalo above and below their confluence, found spikes for E. coli during two months between March and July 2014. However, they weren't sure if it was caused by the hog farm or was naturally occurring because runoff was higher due to more rain last year.
The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture also is monitoring Big Creek as part of a five-year study.
"Before the hog farm was ever there, we've done extensive monitoring of the Buffalo River in a bunch of stations with the Park Service," Benefield said. "We'll continue to do that. The U of A study is specific and focused on looking at that section of Big Creek, in looking at it above where there is no chance of runoff from the application fields, below where there would be monitoring in that system, and they're doing a lot of testing and sampling to look at that issue."
A report of the UA monitoring for the first quarter of this year was available at the Jasper meeting. Benefield was asked to briefly sum up the report.
"They would say it's too early to make any conclusions. As a matter of fact, I think the Park Service has said the same thing," Benefield said. "That's why you continue to look at it. When you're looking at things like bacteria, you're looking at long-term trends, you're looking over time. And I don't think they've seen anything alarming."
He said the study is for five years "and it needs that amount of time before you could ever draw conclusions."
"Now, if they see something alarming anywhere along, they'll let us know. And they haven't done so yet, they haven't seen anything alarming, anything of concern."
A controversial hog farm near the Buffalo National River is hoping to change how it deals with some waste from its operation, but people living nearby say they don't want to chance any changes to the C&H hog farm.
In the past, public meetings about the C&H hog game in Mount Judea have drawn a lot of concern from people, and Monday's meeting in Jasper was no different. The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality hosted the meeting to discuss a change where the farm could use tanker trucks to spread waste from its second pool. Right now only sprinklers are used for the second pool, which is mainly sewage and overflow from the farms first pool.
"The second pond is the overflow pond, it receives a lot less waste and the waste is a lot more liquids, not a lot of solids in it," Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality Deputy Director Ryan Benefield,
People at the meeting said they're concerned about the effect the change would have on the nearby Buffalo National River.
"Anytime they want to change the way they've got things set up is a concern for me because it wasn't sustainable to begin with and tinkering it is probably not going to make it more sustainable," Lin Wellford said The Department of Environmental Quality expects to make a decision soon.
Theculturetrip.com
The 10 Most Beautiful Towns in Arkansas
Jasper Located in the heart of Newton County, Jasper is a tiny, scenic town nestled in the Ozark Mountains not far from the Buffalo National River – the first waterway in the US to be designated national river status. Surrounded by breathtaking natural beauty, the lush wilds around the town are home to roaming herds of elk whose reintroduction to the area is celebrated annually with Jasper’s Buffalo River Elk Festival while it’s quaint downtown area is home to historic properties, like the Arkansas House Inn, a hotel first opened in 1934, and quirky antique stores like Emma’s Museum of Junk. Jasper, AR, USA
Arkansas Online
Godspeed, Uncle John By Mike Masterson Across his 26 years as the congressman for the Third District, John Paul Hammerschmidt of Harrison earned a reputation for helping constituents as well as every Arkansan who needed it. No wonder so many of the influential and ordinary folks loved and respected the humble gentleman.
As a World War II pilot and recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross with three oak clusters, his heart swelled largest when it came to matters affecting veterans. And they knew and often showed their appreciation repeatedly regardless of where they lived. His service during the war was piloting cargo planes across the dangerous Himalayan "Hump" into China.
My intent in this column isn't to rehash his lengthy impressive resume of public service in the days following his death just a month shy of his 93rd birthday. I'd rather speak of the man I knew as my mother's older brother.
My earliest recollections of Uncle John were in the office at the Hammerschmidt Lumber Company off the town square. He would come and go as would his father, Arthur, in managing the daily business affairs. Even then he was always a gentleman and greeted me with a smile when I came to smell the wonders of freshly cut timber.
He and his wife, Ginny, and their son, John Arthur, were always at family gatherings at Christmas. But as a child, my focus was on playing with the cousins, rather than adults and their conversations.
I was a senior in high school in Albuquerque when Uncle John was elected to Congress. He made a trip to visit the family and told Mom he wanted me to have a tuxedo as a graduation gift. "Every young man needs a tux for special times in life," he told us. So he and I went to the Winrock Mall together where he outfitted me with the perfect black tux and a shirt that buttoned with cuff links.
I remember thinking how thoughtful it was that this uncle I really didn't know that well would even think to give such a grand graduation gift to his nephew.
As years passed, I kept up with Uncle John and his determination to preserve the free-flowing Buffalo National River as the country's first to be designated as such. It wasn't an easy battle. His desire to preserve this treasure for generations was met with resistance by any number of property owners in Newton County who sought to preserve the status quo. But he stood firm on behalf of what he believed to be the best thing for the majority. And in 1972, the scenic Buffalo became America's first national river.
As ranking member of the House Transportation Committee, he made sure his district and our state saw several highway improvement and bridge projects become realities, including Interstate 49, which bears his name today. He also saw to it legislatively the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport at Highfill came to fruition.
I said upfront this wasn't going to be a resume and here I am rattling off only a few of his major contributions. It's darned near impossible not to.
Suffice it to say John Paul's heart continuously beat in harmony with those of the people. He didn't play self-interested radical politics, choosing to work out differences in a bipartisan manner. He chose never to use his combat decorations in political races.
Successor representatives in the 3rd District tell me the single-most piece of mentoring John Paul gave to each was to never forget that, "they now no longer were Republican or Democrat, they served the Arkansans of both parties equally."
No wonder this insightful and soft-spoken man was continually re-elected by Democrats and Republicans alike until retirement in 1993.
His dedication to helping others never stopped even then. Until his death last Wednesday, he maintained and financed two offices in Harrison, one at Northark College and the other just off the square. There, he and office managers Lisa and Stormy continued to assist those needing a voice. He gave up his formal title, but never stopped using his sterling reputation as a true public servant.
Three summers ago he and I met a couple of times each week in the original Hammerschmidt home near Crooked Creek. It was the house he'd restored to the original condition recalled from his childhood with four siblings, even including joined and sheltered "his and hers" outhouses. We spent precious time reliving his memories and history, both personal and professional. I was amazed by his keen recall of names, events and places. And his devoted son, John Arthur, also blessed with a keen memory, could fill in any blanks.
Together in that home, I could imagine he and Mom and their siblings chasing up and down the narrow staircase, swimming together in Crooked Creek, milking their cow, enjoying their serene grape arbor and sharing close quarters in a loving environment.
So how does a nephew who admired and respected his uncle so much conclude something like this? Godspeed, Uncle John? Endless blessings? Thank you for all you gave to help and improve so many lives? Perhaps it's best to leave it by simply saying you were a fine, honorable man and uncle. And I join thousands in wishing you all of this and more.
You are the finest example of the remarkable difference one relatively selfless man and dedicated public servant can make in this troubled world. You will be remembered in just that way.
KY3 TV News
SPRINGDALE, Ark. - Former Republican U.S. Rep. John Paul Hammerschmidt died Wednesday at age 92 at Regency Hospital. His son, John Arthur Hammerschmidt, announced his death. In the 1960s, Hammerschmidt was chairman of the Arkansas Republican Party, which was then a predominately Democratic state. He also operated a lumber and business supply company. Hammerschmidt won his first race for Congress from the 3rd district of northwest Arkansas in 1966. He was the first Republican from Arkansas in Congress since the Civil War. He spent 26 years in office by winning 12 more elections. In 1974, he defeated Bill Clinton, who went on to become Arkansas governor in 1979 and president in 1993. Hammerschmidt retired from Congress in January 1993. He remained active in civic matters. “Today is an extremely sad day for the Third District and the entire state of Arkansas. John Paul Hammerschmidt was a statesman and one of our most steadfast advocates – he always put Arkansas first. As the lone Republican in our delegation for many years, John Paul proudly fought to protect Arkansas’s conservative values in Congress while working bipartisanly to bring critical transportation infrastructure to the Third District, enabling northwest Arkansas’s explosive growth. For this work and for his legendary constituent service, he garnered enormous respect. Simply put, no one did it better. He leaves behind a grateful state forever indebted for his decades of service. My prayers are with his family," said Rep. Steve Womack, R - Arkansas, who currently represents the 3rd District. Hammerschmidt was a veteran of World War II, and lived most of his life in the Harrison area. ---- The last time that KY3 News interviewed Hammerschmidt was in 2012, upon the 40th anniversary of the creation of Buffalo River National Park by Congress. Ed Fillmer interviewed him and others about the first national river. The park created a lot of controversy. Landowners whose families lived there for decades suddenly were told they'd have to move. Back then, the promise of millions of tourists coming to float the Buffalo seemed far-fetched -- and it took years for harsh feelings to subside. Even now, mixed feelings remain. "We were never used to rules on our farm,” said lifelong resident Nina Lee Fowler. "A lot of people just didn't want their land taken at all,” Hammerschmidt said. “It was very, very controversial.” When the federal government planned America's first national river, people either welcomed the idea or fought it. "There were a lot of hard feelings, a lot,” said longtime resident Euldean Clark. “We were satisfied with what we had here. We had a good living here and we wanted it left just like it was." Hammerschmidt led the effort to create the park. Its supporters honored him in 2012, shortly after he turned 90. "Well, I grew up on the Buffalo,” he said. Hammerschmidt’s fond memories of the river and the valley guided him. He didn't want it to disappear. He clearly recalled the animosity as local people debated plans for the government takeover. "They were all our friends, and it was very difficult to pass that bill because they were totally against it,” he said. "They'd say, ‘John Paul, why are you allowing them to take my land?’" But the National River was established. As forecast, new opportunities to make money came into the valley. Tourism mostly replaced farming. Many have prospered meeting the needs of a million and a half visitors a year. "It’s where people want to get away and see a little bit of the past," said Ben Fruehauf, owner of the 111-year-old Gilbert general store, a block off the river. For the past 35 years, Fruehauf has sold mostly tourist supplies and souvenirs and has rented canoes and cabins. He says Gilbert survives because of the national river. "If this wasn't Gilbert, forty yards to the Buffalo National River, it would have dried up and blown away, dead on the vine,” he said. Copyright © 2015, KY3 News
Baxter County Bulletin
ADEQ hearing set on C&H Hog Farm modifications March 23, 2015
LITTLE ROCK – An Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality public hearing for the proposed modification of coverage for C&H Hog Farm in Mount Judea under the Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation General Permit is set for 6 p.m. April 20 in the Jasper School District Cafetorium. Those attending the hearing should enter the school building, located at 600 School St. in Jasper, at the clock tower. The proposal involves modifying the Nutrient Management Plan to allow land application of wastewater from Waste Storage Pond 2 via tanker wagon. The public notice of the Nutrient Management Plan and Notice of Intent are on the Department's website at http://bit.ly/1BbrCSJ. Written comments will be accepted during the public comment period, which began on March 18 and ends at 4:30 p.m. April 17. Those who wish to comment on ADEQ's draft permitting decision must submit written comments to the agency, along with their name and mailing address, during the public comment period. Written or oral comments will be accepted at the April 20 public hearing. Written comments are preferred in the interest of accuracy. No additional comments will be accepted upon adjourning the hearing. Written comments should be mailed to Water Division Permits Branch, 5301 Northshore Drive, North Little Rock, AR 72118-5317 or by emailing Water-Draft-Permit-Comment@adeq.state.ar.us. Telephone inquiries on the Notice of Intent and Nutrient Management Plan should be directed to (501) 682-0648. After the public comment period and public hearing, ADEQ will issue a final decision on the request to modify the Nutrient Management Plan. Only comments directly pertaining to the modification will be considered. ADEQ will notify each person who has submitted written comments or requested notice of the final decision.
A pond leaked?
By Mike Masterson, Arkansas Democrat Gazette
March 22, 2015 I was shocked, downright shocked I say, to read a news account where Cargill Inc., the primary supporter and supplier of the controversial hog factory in the Buffalo National River watershed at Mount Judea, had water from its treatment-plant pond at Beardstown, Ill., end up in a city pond where fish were found dead. The leak in the company's earthen dam was about 40 feet wide and apparently occurred over the weekend of March 7-8. Its pond leaked millions of gallons into surrounding croplands and into irrigation ditches that flowed into the stocked city pond. Cargill repaired its leak then said it would restock the pond though officials said there hadn't yet been any direct correlation between the corporation's leaky pond and the dead fish. The Beardstown mayor took it a step further and suggested perhaps the fish had died from "winter kill." What the heck, I wouldn't rule out Bigfoot or the Creature from the Black Lagoon. I feel certain Cargill's engineers never in their wildest plannings imagined their earthen dam would ever spring such a massive leak.
Arkansas Business
Environmentalist Calls for Strict Oversight of Hog Farm Near Buffalo River by Rob Moritz on Friday, Mar. 20, 2015 3:29 pm CONWAY – Environmentalists must be vocal in their opposition to a hog farm near the Buffalo National River watershed because it's not only a potential threat to the pristine waterway but also the economy of the region, the chairman of the Pulaski County Ozark Society said Friday. "The science is clear," David Peterson told a crowd of about 75 on the University of Central Arkansas campus, adding the hog farm "is a real threat." At issue is C&H Hog Farms in Mount Judea, which opened in late 2012 after receiving a permit from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality. C&H is permitted to house 2,500 sows and 4,000 piglets on Big Creek, about six miles from where it flows into the Buffalo National River. Environmental studies on the impact of the hog farm runoff into the river are inconclusive, because the farm began operating just over two years ago. But there is evidence suggesting increases in phosphates, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and other nutrients in the river, Peterson said. While the materials remain within legal limits, there is concern a build-up of the nutrients over years and decades could degrade the river and its habitat. "The science is there, except it’s not dangerous levels," he said, adding that higher levels of e-coli were detected in May and June. Another concern, Peterson said, is that region consists of porous limestone rock known as Karst. Water in Karst geological formations leaches through fissures and into the underground system and can end up anywhere along the river. There is also concern, he said, that the permit allows for some seepage from the two holding ponds on the pig farm property. Peterson said a major flood of 7 inches or more in a 24-hour period could overflow the ponds, where pig waste is stored, and flood Big Creek. The Buffalo National River, which attracts more than a million people each year for hiking, camping, fishing and canoeing, is a major economic engine to region of the state, Peterson said. Environmental damage to the river would have a significant impact the tourism industry, he said. Peterson said environmentalists should write or telephone their state lawmakers and urge them to make sure there is strict enforcement of the permit by ADEQ and that additional mitigation plans be implemented at C&H Farms. He also said long-term environmental studies of the waters near the hog farm should continue. A six-month temporary ban on ADEQ from issuing any new hog farm permits in the region is set to expire in mid-April, and Peterson urged everyone to contact their state lawmakers and Gov. Asa Hutchinson to encourage them to support an extension of the ban. "I think a ground swell of public support for curtailing hog farms, at least along the Buffalo River watershed … is best done by word of mouth," Peterson said. "If you take people on a trip on the Buffalo River you will have a convert. That’s all there is to it."