In its reply this week to a lawsuit filed in August over the issuance of loan guarantees for C&H Hog Farms in Mount Judea, near the Buffalo National River, the federal government denied that the pigs will generate nearly 1.8 million gallons of waste or wastewater that will be collected in open-air storage ponds.
The hog farm has access to about 630 acres of agricultural land surrounding it on which waste may be applied, and the runoff of nutrients into Big Creek will be prevented by plant uptake, soil bonding and a 100-foot buffer zone, according to the answer filed Monday.
The lawsuit, brought by four environmental groups, was amended last Wednesday to update the name of one of the defendants, the acting administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, from Karen Mills to her successor, Jeanne Hulit. It is pending before U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr., but no hearing dates have been set.
Barclay Samford, trial attorney for the Natural Resources Section of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environment & Natural Resources Division, asserted that the waste provisions are provided for in the Nutrient Management Plan and the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality guidelines.
Samford denied that any federal laws were violated when the Farm Service Agency, a part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Small Business Administration approved loan guarantees of 90 percent and 75 percent, respectively, for loans of $1.302 million and $2.3 million for purchasing the land and constructing the facility.
The lawsuit criticizes the Farm Service Agency for what the environment groups say is an insufficient level of attention given to assessing potential environmental effects of the farm’s operation. It also alleges the agency improperly failed to consult with other agencies, including the National Park Service, before issuing its environmental assessment.
The suit was brought by Earthjustice, a New York based environmental litigation group, on behalf of the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance, the Arkansas Canoe Club, the National Parks Conservation Association and the Ozark Society.
It alleges that the USDA, the Farm Service Agency, the Small Business Administration, and each agency’s national and Arkansas directors violated various federal laws including the Administrative Procedures Act, the National Environmental Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Buffalo River Enabling Act.
The farm had been in operation for several months when the lawsuit was filed in early August. Hannah Chang, an attorney for Earthjustice, said at the time that even if the suit is successful, it isn’t likely to lead to the revocation of the operational permits for the farm but would require government officials to take steps to address potential environmental problems.
Arkansas, Pages 12 on 12/25/2013