A University of Arkansas study on the impact of C&H Hog Farms on the Buffalo River's watershed is running out of money, and no plan is yet in place to continuing its funding.
The study is one of two being done in the area, although it's the only state-sanctioned and state-funded study.
The UA study has so far been inconclusive, said Andrew Sharpley, Big Creek Research Team leader, as the data gathered hasn't been consistent. Sharpley is a professor of soils and water quality at the University of Arkansas.
Last month, lawmakers spent a few hours debating whether to impose a permanent ban on medium and large hog farms in the watershed and repeatedly mentioned the lack of conclusive evidence from the study so far.
Several legislators said they didn't want to make a decision without evidence the large hog farm is causing any damage.
Rep. Kelley Linck, R-Yellville, chairwoman of the Public Health Committee, reminded legislators they need to decide during the session whether to continue funding the study, which is designed to last five years. The study is in its second year.
J.R. Davis, a spokesman for Gov. Asa Hutchinson, said Hutchinson was aware of "what's going on at the hog farm" but he didn't believe Hutchinson had been approached about continuing funding for the study.
Gov. Mike Beebe proposed spending $340,000 in 'rainy day' money in 2013 to pay for a study monitoring the farm's impacts, which was later approved by a Legislative subcommittee. The expense was only set to last a year.
"We can't keep doing it forever without some continuing lower level of funding for the analyses, but we will make every effort to do as such as we can so there's no gaps," Sharpley said.
The study has measured water and soil samples since late 2013, when it first began trying to establish a baseline from which to draw conclusions on future water and soil conditions. The study is being done in three fields around the farm along Big Creek, which C&H Hog Farms sits along.
Sharpley's team, which is also working with the U.S. Geological Survey, hasn't been able to access more fields around the hog farm because the researchers don't have permission from landowners. Sharpley has said he would like to do more.
So far, Sharpley said, the study has shown peaks and falls in some minerals and e.coli. The data showed a spike in e.coli in early 2014.
"It's too early to say that there's no impact. It's too early to draw any conclusions," Sharpley said, noting researchers haven't been able to discern consistent patterns in the data in such a short time span.
Environmental groups opposed to the hog farm's presence in the Buffalo River watershed continually note another study being done by a retired University of Arkansas Geosciences Department professor, Van Brahana. He believes his voluntary research indicates a decrease in dissolved oxygen in Big Creek both last summer and this winter.
Low levels of dissolved oxygen can be damaging to aquatic life, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Brahana and volunteers are studying the water in Big Creek and around it, including minerals and the flow of the water. Brahana's team has put dyes in the water to detect patterns showing the interconnection of water basins, Big Creek and the Buffalo National River.
Brahana said his team has spent $14,000 on that study, with a lot of time and equipment being donated.
"We watch both of the activities and read the reports with interest," said Duane Woltjen, vice president of the Ozark Society, adding he believes Brahana's study is particularly important.
Richard Davies, director of the Arkansas Department of Tourism, said the UA study is important because of the value of the Buffalo National River to tourism and the difficulty of turning around a bad reputation that could come with too much pollution.
"I hope that we would continue to monitor it from now on," he said.
C&H Hog Farms is permitted to house about 2,500 sows and as many as 4,000 piglets at a time. It's in Mount Judea near Big Creek, about 6 miles upstream from where it meets the Buffalo National River.
C&H Hog Farms is the first large-scale, swine-concentrated animal-feeding operation to receive a Regulation 6 permit from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality inside the Buffalo National River watershed. It's still the only one, as the watershed has a temporary ban on new medium and large hog farms.
The Buffalo National River had more than 1 million visitors in 2013 who spent about $46 million collectively, according to National Park Service data.
Metro on 01/17/2015