Of hogs and power lines

It’s a big week ahead for Arkansans intent on preserving the natural beauty and environment of the Ozark Mountains.

Come Monday at 9 a.m., I expect hundreds of folks to gather at the Inn of the Ozarks in Eureka Springs for a public hearing on SWEPCO’s proposal to run a high-voltage power line from a station in Benton County through the Ozarks to its very expensive parcel of pastureland near the Kings River in Carroll County.

The utility company’s plan ignited an energized uproar among most who live along several proposed routes the wide swath would take. Sadly, many of those property owners believe the hearing is a required formality and that the Public Service Commission is set to approve SWEPCO’s plan regardless of what’s said before an administrative law judge.

If true, that would indeed be a shameful squandering of effort and public trust.

Meanwhile, over in Newton County, home of the family hog factory supplied by Cargill at Mount Judea near Big Creek (tributary of the Buffalo National River) a University of Arkansas geoscientist on Tuesday begins examining the hydrology of that creek.

Dr. John Van Brahana and students plan to collect and analyze water samples from area streams, ponds, springs and wells as well as conduct dye-trace studies at no cost to local landowners. He’s asking those living in and around Mount Judea who wonder “where the water that goes into a sinkhole or sinking stream winds up” to contact him at (479) 236-1347.

I say good for him for doing the job our state should have demanded before ever permitting this facility in such an environmentally sensitive region of our country’s first national river. I also believe the state and the factory farm owners rightfully should bear the expense of this necessary testing.

Sen. John Boozman provided further thoughts on locating this facility with up to 6,500 swine in the national river’s watershed. Ever the gentleman-politician, the senator began by saying he realizes everyone involved in this issue loves the Buffalo River and wants to preserve and protect it.

“The farmers presented a plan to the regulators that they felt would allow for the production of hogs in a manner that would not threaten the Buffalo,” Boozman said. “The state and federal regulators agreed with the plan, and farmers proceeded to invest in good faith. The county is one of the poorest in Arkansas and, in fact, the nation. Many would welcome the increased jobs and tax base.” However, Boozman acknowledges: “There’s great concern that despite the state and federal regulators’ action, the soil and rock composition would lead to runoff leaching into the Buffalo,” which flows fewer than six miles downstream from Big Creek.

“The whole area wants assurance because of the significant tourism dollars the river generates and because we all have an appreciation of the need to protect the natural beauty of the Buffalo,” Boozman added. “Some have suggested the idea of [establishing] baseline water quality to be used with ongoing monitoring in the future by the state. This is a reasonable suggestion and would help ensure there is no adverse effect on water quality, which is what everyone wants to prevent. Hopefully, we can work together to protect everyone’s rights and the integrity of this special river, which is what all the groups want.”

That would sound downright reasonable if there weren’t so many questions swirling around the way this farm came to be where it is.

Boozman’s response doesn’t address how the facility came to be permitted without baseline (and dye) tests being initially conducted. It also doesn’t explain why there wasn’t a single public hearing beforehand in Newton County to make certain everyone who’d potentially be involved was aware of the proposed contained animal feeding operation in their backyard. Neither does it explain why the state Department of Environmental Quality director or the agency’s Newton County staff say they didn’t know the factory was being permitted before it had been.

The response fails to address the U.S. Farm Service Agency’s questioned environmental assessment of the location, which the National Park Service publicly called woefully incomplete, misleading and flat mistaken.

Some in our state would dismiss the widespread public concern over the wholly inappropriate location of this hog factory as a foolish witch hunt or idle crusade. They are welcome to their opinions, especially if they’re willing to overlook the many substantive questions over how this place came to exist with such relative ease and little public attention.

As one who writes opinions, I’m obviously not that casually dismissive or satisfied that governmental gatekeepers came even close to fulfilling their mandated responsibilities in such a justifiably controversial and important matter.

Far too many legitimate questions are left to dangle as loose ends. Don’t believe me? Ask the National Park Service, or the Ozark Society, or former Department of Environmental Quality Director RandallMathis.

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Mike Masterson’s column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at mikemasterson10@hotmail.com.

Read his blog at mikemastersonsmessenger.com.

Editorial, Pages 73 on 07/14/2013

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