LITTLE ROCK — A state commission will consider Friday whether to hear a late appeal of a permit issued earlier this year to Prairie County Land Farm, LLC, a facility that stores water discarded during natural gas drilling.
Nancy Felts Dunlap, of North Little Rock doesn't want Prairie County Land Farm operating just three miles from the family farm in Lonoke County where her 80-year-old mother lives.
Prairie County Land Farm argues, however, her request for an appeal hearing arrived at the state's Pollution Control and Ecology Commission offices in downtown Little Rock late and is therefore invalid.
Arkansas Code Annotated 8-4-205 gives an interested party 30 days in which to file a request for hearing of a final permitting decision. The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality granted the permit May 26 and any opposition letters had to be filed by June 25. Dunlap's letter was received on June 30.
The commission sets policy for the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, which administers and enforces the regulations. The commission also hears appeals of the department's decisions.
Dunlap said her request arrived late through no fault of her own.
Not realizing the Commission offices are at 101 E. Capitol Ave., in Little Rock, Dunlap hand delivered her request to the Department of Environmental Quality headquartersat 5301 Northshore Dr. in North Little Rock.
A receptionist at the department accepted the package and stamped it, the Commission's hearing documents show.
"My point is this: You don't accept mail that isn't yours. The secretary should not have accepted the mail if it wasn't for ADEQ ," Dunlap said. "If she had just told me I needed to take it to another place, I certainly would've taken it to that place. She stamped it and put it in snail mail and it got to the PC&E office four days later."
The administrative hearing officer investigating the case, Michael O'Malley, has recommended that Dunlap's protest be dismissed.
"Dunlap was responsible for determining that her request for review was not only filed with the Commission, but that it was filed within the 30 days of the date of issuance," O'Malley's recommendation reads.
Dunlap also argues that the location information for the Commission posted on the Department of Environmental Quality's Web site is misleading.
Under a section on the lefthand side of the Web page that includes the titles "APC&E Commission," "Information" and "Where We Are" is a link that displays maps with directions to the headquarters on Northshore Drive. However, scrolling to the bottom center of the same page finds a section titled "Contact Information" that lists the Capitol Avenue address with a telephone and fax number. The Commission's Web site is reached through the Department of Environmental Quality's site, www.adeq.state. ar.us.
"I should not have to have 28 years of institutional knowledgeof how ADEQ works to object to something," Dunlap said.
Land farms use large lined ponds to hold water and rock sediment discarded after drilling for natural gas. Sixteen such facilities have been granted permits since drilling in the Fayetteville Shale, a natural-gas formation stretching under north-central Arkansas, began in late 2004.
A study conducted by the Department of Environmental Quality between Nov. 25, 2008, and Jan. 20, 2009, found that all had violated the terms of their permits in some way. Because of those violations, only six are operating, according to the agency.
Repeated violations of permit conditions led Teresa Marks, the agency's director, to order the study and place a moratorium on new permits. In July, Marks proposed tougher regulations for the facilities.
The water stored in the ponds can be used to irrigate crops after it has been tested and approved by the Department of Environmental Quality. The water must not be allowed to pool or run off the property. Runoff was one of the most frequent violations.
Dunlap is hoping to unite with a group of Lonoke County property owners who joined forces to hire Little Rock attorney Sam Ledbetter of McMath Woods law firm to oppose the facility's permit.
However, if her request for an appeal is dismissed Friday, she would not be eligible to appeal the land farm's permit because only those who submitted public comment within the 30-day period will be heard.
Quorum courts in both Lonoke and Prairie counties passed resolutions opposing Prairie County Land Farm.
The Pollution Control and Ecology Commission meets at 9 a.m. at the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality headquarters in North Little Rock.
Arkansas, Pages 7, 12 on 08/24/2009