Neighbors say water problems by plant persist

Despite numerous complaints and an administrative consent order from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, several Benton County residents say water conditions have barely improved near a large Siloam Springs canning operation.

Between Oct. 14 and Dec. 12, nine complaints were filed with the Environmental Quality Department by residents, property owners and local environmental investigators when an unnamed creek that flows between the Allens canning facility in Siloam Springs and the Illinois River became dark, murkyand had a strong septic odor, and area well water became discolored and undrinkable.

The facility holds several operation permits through the Environmental Quality Department, including one that allows operators to spray waste byproducts and wastewater from the vegetable canning process on several fields surrounding the plant, using automated sprinkler heads.

During a series of inspections between Oct. 22 and Nov. 13, inspectors noted about 20 violations of state and federal regulations, culminating in a Nov. 21 inspection report spanning morethan 100 pages. Alison West, a field inspector with the Environmental Quality Department’s water division, noted that “waste water has been over applied on many of the land-application sites. … Due to the over application, an unknown quantity of irrigated wastewater and solids were discharged into unnamed tributaries which flow into the Illinois River.”

In the same report, West noted that levels of dissolved oxygen in the creek exceeded levels set by the Environmental Quality Department for the stream segment, and soil and water analysis for levels of arsenic, copper, lead, nickel, zinc, cadmium, mercury, selenium and nitrogen were either not provided or improperly calculated in the company’s 2012 annual report.

West said in the November report that during an Oct. 22 inspection, water in the creek near the canning plant was “discolored and turbid. The creek had a waste odor that would be associated with a vegetable processing plant.”

Marian Bearden, who lives near the banks of the polluted creek about 2 miles north of its confluence with the Illinois River, filed a complaint with the Environmental Quality Department on Oct. 18, after herwell water had become so polluted that it was not only undrinkable, but was unusable for washing clothes.

Officer Wally Dunn, an inspector with Benton County Environmental Services, photographed a glass jar containing about a quart of iron-red water from Bearden’s well. In the complaint, Dunn described water in the nearby creek as “very murky and [having a ] strong stench.”

Bearden said that since filing the complaint, her situation has improved only slightly.

“I still can’t drink my water,” Bearden said. “Nobody’s done anything. The smell’s not quite as strong, but it still has that heavy yellow stuff.”

Bearden said that adding a teaspoon of bleach to a quart of her well water caused a “black sludge” to materialize, which floated to the bottom of the container. Bearden saidshe ruined several loads of laundry, along with her washing machine, last year before realizing there was a problem.

Brian Haggard, a professor of biological and agricultural engineering and director of the Arkansas Water Resources Center at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, said chemical oxidizing agents such as bleach will react with metals such as iron and manganese in water, as well as organic agents.

“The bleach causes organic materials to ‘flocculate,’” Haggard said. “They start clumping together and settle to the bottom.”

Bearden said the water on her property has cleared enough now that she can safely wash clothes without bleach. She said she had hired a private water-treatment company to test her well water and provide acost estimate on making it safely drinkable again.

She said the company estimated that filtration and treatment would cost $3,000-$5,000. In the meantime, Bearden said, she has been making frequent trips to her brother’s property in Gentry to fill up gallon jugs of water for drinking.

On Oct. 28, Allens Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Exactly four months later, the business was purchased by Sager Creek Acquisition Corp. for almost $160 million, and Chris Kaiser, a former private consultant in the food and beverage industry, was hired as chief executive officer of Allens.

Also on Feb. 28, the Environmental Quality Department issued an administrative consent order, which department spokesman Katherine Benenati said was the result of negotiations between the department and former Allens administrators, and to which Sager executives agreed.

The order permits operators at the plant to continue applying waste from the facility to surrounding land as weather conditions permit, but requires the owners to submit within 90 days a completed permit application package similar to what would normally be required for a new permit or permit renewal.

The required application documents include a complete nutrient-management plan, which outlines how waste from the facility will be disposed of;

land-usecontracts with the owners of the surrounding fields; soil and waste analysis data; and a certificate of good standing from the Arkansas secretary of state.

According to the order, Sager faces escalating penalties if the May 29 deadline is not met, beginning at $100 a day for the first 14 days, $500 a day for the 15th through 30th day, and $1,000 per day after the 30th day.

Kaiser said he plans to continue working within the constraints of the administrative consent order and the requirements of the permits, but that he wasn’t aware of any plans within the company to upgrade or retrofit any aspect of the canning facility’s wastewater disposal system.

Kameron Slater, a Benton County resident who owns nearly 30 acres near the polluted creek, filed one of the many complaints against the Allens plant last October. Slater said he had contacted the Benton County Health Department, the Illinois River Watershed Partnership and the Environmental Quality Department over the preceding 18 months with his concerns, describing the unnamedstream’s bed as having a black color and a septic odor that could be detected 50-100 yards away.

Like other residents and property owners interviewed for this article, Slater said stream and groundwater conditions had improved only slightly in the approximately four months since he filed his Oct. 28 complaint.

“The last time I looked at it, the water was clear, but as far as algae and black deposits left on the bottom of the stream, it’s still impacting the environment,” Slater said.

Slater said he was not considering civil action against Allens and that he felt he shouldn’t have to, either.

“I’d prefer not to go that route,” Slater said. “I’d prefer the state and company do what’s right. The state shouldn’t require us to go to legal action, when this is a breached permit.”

Kaiser said he was not aware of any intention within the company to work with local property owners to restore their wells’ water to drinkable condition.

Bearden said she was consulting with a neighbor, who also filed a complaint with the Environmental Quality Department in 2013, as to whether to pursue civil litigation against Allens.

“If my neighbor sues, we’ll go in with him,” Bearden said. “Other than that, I’m laying low.”

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 15 on 03/23/2014

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