Officials with the National Buffalo River are seeking assurances from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality that a newly-permitted hog farm near the banks of a tributary will not endanger the quality of the nation’s oldest national river.
Kevin Cheri, superintendent with the Buffalo National River, voiced concern over the permit in a letter dated Dec. 20 that he sent to department Director Teresa Marks. The permit, issued Aug. 3, to Jason Henson andC&H Farms of Mount Judea, is for a 670-acre farm about a mile west of Big Creek, a tributary of the Buffalo National River.
“We felt that while they’re presumably within their regulations to issue this, so close to one of the most pristine rivers in the United States, we think they have the authority to go further than that, to give extra protection to extraordinary resource waters,” Cheri said. “The streams and lakes in Arkansas that have very pure water to start with. There are protectionsfor those, but we think there should be more. For example, no hog farms permitted on the tributaries of these waters.”
Cheri voiced irritation over not being consulted during the permitting process and a lack of notification or public meetings held to seek comment before the permit was issued. He also identified several commercial and natural resources that he said might be imperiled by a large animal operation. Among them, he indicated, are endangered species and candidates for the endangered species list, all of which can be found in the river.
Marks’ office issued a letter dated Jan. 3 in response to Cheri’s concerns, chiefly focusing on the timeline of the permitting process. The Department of Environmental Quality ran public notice advertisements in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in February and April 2012. The letter states that six public meetings were held, and documents obtained by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette indicate that public comments from 13 individuals, organizations and corporations were recorded between Feb. 11 and March 11 of 2012. No notices were run in newspapers in Harrison, Jasper or other local news outlets.
Duane Woltjen, Arkansas director for the Ozark Society - an environmental stewardship organization - said concerns about the impact of a large feeding operation like the one in question aren’t limited to issuesof water quality.
“The issue isn’t just soil and water contamination, coupled with concentrated feed operations and feed lots,” Woltjen said. “The other thing with hog farms is the odor. And there are no air-pollution control standards for odors that we’re aware of.”
“Because of the location of the hog farm, south but close to the Buffalo River, I think users are going to be impacted severely by odors.
“I’m basing that on my experiences of being within a few miles of hog farms in the country here. It’s incredible,” Woltjen said.
According to the Environment Quality Department, C&H Farms raises about 2,500 hogs that weigh more than 55 pounds apiece and about 4,000 that weigh less than 55 pounds each. The farm has about 670 acres available to spread the waste of some 6,500 hogs, a natural fertilizer rich in nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. The Environmental Quality Department and other state and federal agencies determine requirements for handling the fertilizer and rainwater runoff of feeding operations throughout the state.
Professor Karl VanDevender, the extension engineer with the University of Arkansas’ Division of Agriculturein Little Rock, said feeding farms in Arkansas are generally overengineered against failure.
“ADEQ has standards they expect facilities to meet in their construction,” VanDevender said. “Designs for the manure storage and application has to be done by the National Resources Conservation Service or a licensed professional engineer. It’s not a situation where anyone can wander in off the street and dig a hole in the ground. There are engineering standards.”
VanDevender said a farm design must plan for the wettest months of the year, assume 180 days of rainfall per year, and have the extra capture capacity for a 24-hour, 25-year rain event.
“You build in extra capacity for that horrendous event you hope you never see,” VanDevender said. “This is historically-based data, not just numbers from a hat. In Arkansas, our liquid-manure systems are designed to never overflow.”
Jason Henson, one of three co-owners of C&H Farms, said he was confused about why people who oppose the farm seem to assume that pollution from the feed operation is a given.
“I’ve lived next to this river all my life,” Henson said. “They make it look like we’re not looking out for our own streams.”
“We’ve put thousands and thousands of dollars into engineering this. There’s all kinds of things that go on behind the scenes to make sure this is going to work,” Henson said. “It’s not like they just up and gave us a permit. It don’t work that way.”
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 02/22/2013