$3.6M in water,
sewer loans OK'd
The Arkansas Natural Resources Commission has approved $3.6 million in new loans and $160,000 in loan increases to 10 rural water and wastewater utilities in Arkansas.
The commission approved the loans Wednesday at its January meeting in Little Rock.
The Madison County Water Facilities Board received $1.3 million for rehabilitating four pump stations and five tanks for its drinking water system.
Several cities received loans for water-meter replacement projects. The cities of Danville and Mount Ida each received $500,000, Nashville received $411,000, Jefferson Samples & Dexter Water Users Association received $368,000, Frenchport Water Association received $354,100, Western Grove received $120,000 and Alpine Water Authority received $75,000.
Commissioners increased Wooster's loan to improve its drinking water system by $100,000 to $500,000. Commissioners also increased Watson Chapel's loan to improve its drinking water system by $60,000 to $775,000.
County water-area
request on docket
Arkansas natural resources officials will hold a public hearing likely this spring regarding a petition by Monroe County leaders seeking to designate the county as a critical groundwater area, Arkansas Natural Resources Commission attorney Crystal Phelps said.
Commission employees studied the proposal and supported the county leaders' request, Phelps said.
The public hearing will likely be held after the Arkansas Legislative session, possibly in April, she said.
A critical groundwater designation can help government leaders in prioritizing resources for an area, according to a commission fact sheet.
The designation is used to identify areas reliant on aquifers with diminishing water supply. The commission's 2014 state water plan projected that current groundwater use in the state's south and east would be unsustainable.
Also, a person who takes on conservation projects can claim a 50 percent tax credit on the project in a critical groundwater area, Phelps said. Often, that consists of farmers building reservoirs to collect rainwater to use less groundwater for irrigation.
The state's critical groundwater areas currently skip Monroe and Woodruff counties and encompass counties to the east, west and south of them. Five counties in the state's south are designated as critical groundwater areas.
Panel to consider
hog farm's request
The Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission will meet Friday to hear a petition to stay environmental regulators' denial of a new operating permit to C&H Hog Farms, among other issues.
C&H Hog Farms owners have asked the commission to stay the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality's denial of the farm's new operating permit and to allow the farm to continue to operate under its expired permit while the farmers appeal the denial.
The commission approved a similar petition about a year ago when the department issued its first denial of the farm's application.
The farm's owners also have proposed as an alternative a stay that states that the commission believes continual operation of the farm is appropriate but ultimately denies the stay because relief has already been granted by Newton County Circuit Judge John Putman when he placed a stay in October on a commission decision allowing the department to reopen the permitting process for the second denial.
Tyson seeks raise
in mineral levels
The Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission will meet Friday to hear a revised petition from Tyson Foods to raise the allowable levels of minerals in the Poteau River and a tributary, among other things.
Leaders of Tyson's Waldron plant have asked the commission to increase the amount of chlorides allowed in the Poteau River from an unnamed tributary to the Arkansas 59 bridge from 120 milligrams per liter to 185; the amount of sulfates allowed from 60 milligrams per liter to 200; and the amount of total dissolved solids allowed from 500 milligrams per liter to 786.
The company also wants to increase the amount of chlorides allowed in the unnamed tributary of the Poteau River from 150 milligrams per liter to 180; the amount of sulfates allowed from 70 milligrams per liter to 200; and the amount of total dissolved solids allowed from 660 milligrams per liter to 870.
In 2013, the company proposed changing standards in two portions of the unnamed tributary and a portion of the Poteau River. The request included some increased and some decreases.
The change, according to the revised petition follows the review of new data and discussion with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Metro on 01/21/2019