A letter to Cargill

While a single voice raised in the court of public opinion can prompt change, I’ve found even greater power from voices lifted in unison.

Many outcries lifted in harmony can carry enormous influence when getting the attention of those elected to lead in a democratic republic. Sometimes a sufficient outcry also will move morally astute decision-makers in private commerce to reform their own honest misjudgments and errors.

Carol Bitting of Newton County obviously shares my beliefs.

She recently sent a letter containing her opinions to Michael Martin, the director of communications for the privately owned Minnesota-based food supplier Cargill Inc. That’s the multinational food giant that decided to support the nationally controversial hog factory our state permitted to operate, thereby regularly spreading tons of swine waste across pastures near the banks of Big Creek. That’s a major tributary that enters the Buffalo National River six miles downstream.

As readers likely know, I have no problem, whenever I feel it’s warranted, sharing what readers express in common with my own beliefs. This woefully misplaced hog factory falls whole hog (sorry) into that category.

Read what Ms. Bitting had to opine to Mr. Martin in her April 1 message, then decide if you might have thoughts to share with the man who communicates to the world on behalf of Cargill and its decisions at [email protected]. I’m sure Mike would enjoy hearing from every Arkansan and others with an opinion about the factory’s incredibly misplaced location. Imagine the potential PR nightmare that company will face should hog waste leak into our country’s first national river.

Ms. Bitting’s letter (edited for space): “Mr. Martin, it’s been a while since we have communicated ... there is a real problem in the sensitive Big Creek area in which Cargill has up to 6,500 hogs at C&H Hog Farms.

“The CAFO listed above is sitting in one of Arkansas’ most sensitive and scenic locations. It’s an area visited by motorcyclist[s], scenic drivers, rockclimbers, hikers, fishermen, etc. This area is surrounded by the Arkansas Game and Fish Wildlife Area, National Forest, National Park Service and private property owners. Those of us fortunate enough to own property in this incredibly beautiful scenic area of the Buffalo National River Watershed are realizing that C&H and Cargill Inc. [are] destroying our scenic beauty and our way of life.

“The putrid smell of hog waste permeates the air and when you want to take a deep breath and share it with the visual of the area, you reel with anger. The smell makes my nose, eyes and throat burn, not to mention the almost immediate head ache.

“You have hogs in this barn and you may have been approached by [the factory’s owner/operators] to contract [with them], but as a corporation known for swine production you knew the destruction that this community would experience.

“When does … compassion prevail? This swine CAFO is not sustainable. Destroying the waters, soil and air quality of the hundreds of people who live nearby and those who seek a living here for a company that already boasts incredible profits is unsustainable to local mankind.

“Mt. Judea school is located just one-half air mile from your hogs. The daily exposure to the noxious odors is overpowering to the students and teachers. I know it is because I’ve been in the area during lunch when the students are outside for the few moments of sunshine and fresh air break they get. Are you doing something for these children? Do you consider their health? They are our country’s future, do you want their bodies weakened before they are developed? I can’t take a deep breath when the air is so heavy with hog odors, they are more susceptible than I. Think on that and consider what you are doing to those 300-plus students and teachers.

“You are destroying a very unique lifestyle, one that is treasured by all who have sacrificed to have it and many who wish they could, not to mention, the quality of life, and economic income to the rest of Arkansans and our scenic beauty. Do you ignore this impact? … Is that your normal practice?

“I ask that you remove these hogs from … the 23 acres C&H purchased in 2012 and if you wish to continue business with these owners do so in a matter that is sustainable to the location … outside the Buffalo National River watershed. Anyplace that is not sustainable is not appropriate and should not be considered by the company and anyone involved.”

So, how do you suppose Ms. Bitting really feels about all those hogs ensconced around Big Creek at Mount Judea? And you?

Comptroller canned

Benton County Judge Bob Clinard wasted little time in firing the county’s comptroller this week after learning she’d married former road department director Scott Stober, who’s charged with theft of public property. That explains to me why Clinard had placed Sarah Wilson on administrative leave a few days earlier. The judge says he learned about their marriage from a caller in late March, rather than from Wilson herself.

I’m wondering what effect, if any, this marriage might have on Stober’s criminal trial since I assume the comptroller, who supposedly scrutinizes all the county’s expenditures, would have been a witness against her hubby. Told you something was up.

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Mike Masterson’s column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at [email protected]. Read his blog at mikemastersonsmessenger.com.