State Watches Springdale Company's Waste Applications

It started with flies -- flies and a rank smell.

"The odor and the flies were terrible," said Jack Brannon, who owns land near Huntsville. "All the neighbors started talking about it."

At A Glance (w/logo)

Land-Application Site

Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality inspectors have visited a Madison County land-application site used by Bub’s Inc. of Springdale several times to respond to homeowners’ complaints about rank smells. The conditions of the company’s permit are intended to minimize odor, but the department doesn’t regulate odor itself. An odor doesn’t necessarily mean there’s an environmental violation.

Source: Arkansas Department Of Environmental Quality

When a Springdale company that bills itself as environmentally friendly began spreading permitted waste on property referred to as "Lyle Beanblossom Fields" at 5577 Madison County 8500 last year, the smell took over.

Bub's Inc., on Dale Rouse Road in Washington County, is a business that reclaims oil, grease traps and handles wastes such as poultry and human waste from outdoor toilets. The business has a post office box address in Tontitown listed with the Secretary of State's office.

By mid-July, neighbors near the fields were calling the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, the county judge, the county emergency management coordinator and even the solid waste district to complain about Bub's Inc., according to documents.

People have complained for years about Bub's and its application sites in Benton, Washington and Madison counties, according to state records. Environmental inspectors first mention improper land application at a Benton County site and lack of paperwork in 2005. Most recently, Bub's was issued a consent administrative order and a $2,500 fine for not filing by deadline paperwork that shows how application sites will be managed.

Some residents in Madison County have complained anonymously, according to state environmental records. The top complaint has been about rancid odor, but residents have also said the company applies too much waste, and it might run off into creeks.

Beanblossom Fields are near Glade Creek and are in a designated "nutrient surplus area," according to the state environmental department. A nutrient surplus area is an area designated by the General Assembly as having such high concentrations of one or more nutrients that continued unrestricted application of the nutrient could negatively impact soil fertility and water of the state, according to information on the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission website.

Where the site is located -- near subdivisions -- and the amount of waste Bub's applies, worries neighbors, Brannon said.

"Bub's Inc., (is) dumping heavily again at Beanblossoms land-application sight (sic)," wrote Brook Cook in a complaint to the state's water division this past January. "Odor is horrible."

Another neighbor said he saw 26 semitrailer loads of waste coming into the site. "Waste is running out of the corner of the holding pit," Brandon Morgan said in his complaint.

Cook didn't return several messages seeking comment. Morgan didn't respond to a message left through Facebook.

State environmental inspectors have gone to the Madison County site several times since 2007, according to environmental records online. Bub's is permitted to spread waste, including poultry liquid and grease.

In March, complaints against Bub's were coming in, even though the company was under a notice of violation and hadn't used the fields since Jan. 23, according to environmental records. On March 21, inspectors went to the fields to check out a complaint, but found Bub's was compliant.

William "Bub" Taylor, president of Bub's, said the most recent problem with the state was a paperwork mix-up. He and an engineer worked on a nutrient management plan for his sites, but ran into trouble getting needed signatures at the county level by the state's deadline, he said.

Just because there's odor at his application site doesn't mean there's an environmental infraction, Katherine Benenati, state environmental agency spokeswoman, said.

"Any waste is going to have odor," Taylor said. "People don't like odor."

Under the current state-approved plan, Bub's can apply nearly 1.2 million gallons of waste a year on three Madison County application sites. The plan covers Feb. 10, 2014, through Feb. 28, 2018, according to records. The state approved the plan last month.

The state doesn't regulate odors, Benenati said.

State health officials haven't had any issues arise with Bub's Inc., Kerry Krell, a state Department of Health spokeswoman, said. No other agency regulates odor, spokeswomen at both departments said.

"The Pollution Control and Ecology Commission has not adopted regulations that specify any regulated levels of odors," Benenati said.

What's In The Water?

On a recent April day, Brannon took water samples from his well and asked the state Health Department to analyze them.

Taylor has been applying poultry liquid to the site for about four years, Brannon said. Brannon's 160 acres touches Taylor's 222 acres, he said. State inspectors have found Bub's violating regulations meant to protect water before, according to records.

Brannon wants to know if his drinking water, which is discolored, is contaminated by Bub's waste. Brannon said he doesn't think the company always incorporated the waste into the soil when the field was bare. That means there's a chance runoff from Bub's entered into streams leading to War Eagle Creek and Beaver Lake, he said. It means his well might be polluted, he said.

Brannon said he has changed from well water to rural water.

The nutrient plan Bub's was supposed to turn in April 2013 wasn't turned in until February, according the state. The plan lays out property storage of manure, proper land application and looking at risks on a particular field that might lead to runoff pollution.

"These guidelines are meant to safeguard the waters of the state and are in keeping with federal and state laws," Benenati said.

The state issued a no-discharge permit with conditions to Bub's "to ensure that facility's operations are protective of human health and the environment," Benenati said.

Brannon said he wants to see the controversy and pollution scare over. Taylor said he fixed everything the state pointed out, before saying he had no further comment.

Taylor has said he will fix things before, Brannon said. In an email to the state environmental agency on Jan. 31, 2013, an engineer for Bub's wrote the company "will continue to send any waste with heavy odors to a land application contractor in Missouri. This will minimize odors at his production facility, storage areas and land application sites."

"(Taylor) might not tell the truth all the time," Brannon said.

A Whiff Of Home

Just across the road, Briarwood subdivision, where construction started in 2006, homes are appraised for as much as $313,000, said Will Jones, Madison County assessor. The average home value in the subdivision is about $200,000.

Just about one-half mile closer to Taylor's property, The Meadows subdivision has homes that average about $150,000 in value, he said. Other nearby homes, not platted as being in a subdivision, are worth about $155,000, Jones said.

At one time, the area saw a lot of development, Brannon said. He's lived in the area about 30 years, he said. Now, people are worried about their home's value. A community meeting in February drew a crowd of people, Brannon said.

After seeing nothing change on Taylor's land, someone twice locked the gates to keep Taylor out of his land, Brannon said. Taylor cut the lock to access his fields.

When Taylor asked to have a community meeting with neighbors, he received an email saying neighbors wanted action, not a meeting, Brannon said.

"Most of them are bitter and didn't want to hear what he had to say," Brannon said.

NW News on 04/13/2014

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