Battle Of The Buffalo Goes On

The fight goes on for the Buff alo River.

Just last week, as a couple dozen state legislators gathered for a look at the Buff alo and C&H Hog Farms, dozens more people collected to protest state approval of the hog-feeding operation.

Presumably, the legislators came to learn more about the river, the region’s tourism magnet, and what this farm might mean to its future.

The related protest, staged on the lawn of the Newton County courthouse, was a reminder to all that the people who oppose this huge hog operation so near the Buffalo National River are not going away anytime soon.

Protecting the Buff alo is an inherited passion, the same as that which preserved the wild river so many years ago when proposed dams threatened to tame it.

The issue now is the huge hog farm operation permitted by state environmental regulators with precious little public notice and consequentlyfar less scrutiny than might have been brought to the project.

C&H Hog Farms, under contract to Cargill, has been permitted to have as many as 2,500 sows and 4,000 piglets on acreage near the Buff alo River.

State Rep. David Branscum, R-Marshall, organized last week’s gathering of lawmakers, bringing members of a legislative committee to Jasper and surrounding environs for a two-day gathering that included a short float on the Buff alo and a tour of the hog farm.

The agriculture committee members also heard from a couple of the organic farmers from the region.

Apparently, only a handful of the lawmakers stayed for a late lunch at the OzarkCafé sponsored by Cargill Inc, the company for which C&H Hog Farms contracted to provide piglets.

According to the news reports, none of the legislators ventured across the street to talk to the protesters on the courthouse lawn, although some 60 or so were there to raise their concerns about the permit.

“We were here to let these folks know, loud and clear, that there are folks really concerned about the Buff alo River, and we think this hog farm is risky business,” said Gordon Watkins of the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance.

The only quote reported from a lawmaker participating in the tour was one of support for the hog farmers.

“If they’re monitoring the water quality like they’re supposed to do, I think this is an unfounded fear,” said Rep. Homer Lenderman, D-Brookland, who also said he was amazed at the air quality at the farm.

“From 30 feet away, you could barely smell the hog operation. It looked to me that they had gone above and beyond the call as faras making sure they were in compliance with all current environmental regulations.”

Meanwhile, the Buff alo River Watershed Alliance and others have fi led notice of intent to sue the federal authorities to try to get the state-issued permit for the hog farm thrown out.

The 60-day notice was filed early this month, so there has been no progress yet on the litigation.

Hog farm foes also tried to persuade the state Department of Environmental Quality, which issued the permit, to revoke it.

But the state regulatory agency last week stood by its 2012 decision to allow concentrated animal-feeding on the farm.

The state attempted to answer some concerns in the response. And the agency is still trying to satisfy the critics that authorities are safeguarding the Buff alo River.

It isn’t working. The fi ght for the Buffalo goes on.

BRENDA BLAGG IS A FREELANCE COLUMNIST AND LONGTIME JOURNALIST IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.