Panel halts new pig-farm permits in watershed

The Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission issued a 180-day moratorium Friday on the issuance of permits for medium- and large-scale, swine animal-feeding operations and concentrated animal-feeding operations within the Buffalo National River watershed.

The moratorium - drafted and submitted by Charles Moulton, the commission’s administrative law judge - mirrors the narrow scope of proposed changes to Arkansas environmental Regulations 5 and 6, which govern liquid animal-waste systems and the administration of the federal National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, respectively.

The proposal to change those regulations, known as a “petition to initiate third-party rule making,” was initially filed April 11 by the Ozark Society, a nonprofit environmental organization, and the Arkansas Public Policy Panel, a nonprofit corporation that describes its purpose as organizing residents “to advocate in the public’s interest.”

The petition seeks to prevent Teresa Marks, the director of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, from issuing operational permits to any new medium- or large-scale swine operations inside the watershed, a geographic area that covers about three-quarters of both Newton and Searcy counties, and about one-quarter of Marion County.

Bob Cross, president of the Ozark Society, said the attempt to amend the state environmental regulations is part of a multipronged effort to halt the growth and continued operation of large-scale, concentrated animal-feeding operations within the watershed, sparked by the issuance of the state’s first Regulation 6 permit in late 2012 to C&H Hog Farms in Mount Judea.

“We’ve had two main objectives since we learned about [C&H Hog Farms],” Cross said. “First, prevent it from happening again. And second, to do something about C&H.”

Public outcry over C&H Hog Farms began to mount in early 2013, after Buffalo National River Superintendent Kevin Cheri publicly denounced the Farm Service Agency, a unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that produced an environmental assessment of the proposed farm, for failing to consult with the National Park Service or other agencies before issuing a “finding of no significant impact.”

Several environmental-activist organizations have voiced concern that animal waste from the farm, which abuts Big Creek 6 miles from its confluence with the Buffalo National River, could pollute both groundwater and surface water with excessive nutrients and pathogens associated with animal waste, including E. coli.

The Ozark Society is also party to an ongoing lawsuit against several federal and state agencies, charging that the Farm Service Agency’s environmental assessment was faulty, and, therefore, the agency should not have issued the loan guarantees that helped finance the construction of C&H Hog Farms.

Ross Noland, one of two lawyers with the Arkansas Public Policy Panel who helped file the petition, said he felt the proposal ultimately would be successful because of its intentionally narrow scope.

“We think we’ve designed a narrow and focused rule-making petition - we’re not casting a wide net here,” Noland said. “I think we’ve designed this for success.”

More than a dozen members of the public addressed the Pollution Control and Ecology Commission during the public comment portion of Friday’s meeting in North Little Rock. Although several members of the watershed alliance encouraged the commissioners to adopt the petition, the vast majority of speakers voiced opposition.

Most of those who opposed the petition identified themselves as farmers and repeatedly pleaded with the commission to adhere to scientific data, rather than emotional appeals. Many speakers also voiced concerns that banning swine operations from the watershed would set a dangerous precedent.

Arkansas state Rep. Dan Douglas, R-Bentonville, emphasized that Arkansas farmers already must follow a stringent series of regulations and must submit a thorough nutrient-management plan to the state, outlining how animal waste will be handled.

“By placing moratoriums and other restrictions, we are devaluing people’s private property,” Douglas said. “When does it end? Is it a moratorium on hog farms, then poultry farms, cattle farms, dairy, whatever? We need to be very careful. Tread softly.”

Gordon Watkins, president of the watershed alliance , said he agreed that the commissioners should follow scientific data and noted a recent spike in E. coli levels found in water samples taken near the confluence of the Buffalo National River and Big Creek earlier in April.

A medium-scale, swine animal-feeding operation is defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as one housing between 750 and 2,499 swine weighing 55 pounds or more, or 3,000 to 9,999 swine weighing less than 55 pounds. A large-scale swine operation is defined as housing 2,500 or more swine weighing 55 pounds or more, or 10,000 or more swine weighing less than 55 pounds.

C&H Hog Farms is the first and only holder of a Regulation 6 permit in the state of Arkansas. There are more than 160 active Regulation 5 permits for animal-feeding operations that include the standard industrial classification for swine. Only about a half-dozen such permitted facilities exist inside the watershed, according to geological mapping data provided by the Environmental Quality Department. Four of those farms are in Newton County, and a fifth is in neighboring Searcy County.

Neither the moratorium nor the proposed regulation changes will retroactively affect C&H Hog Farms, Marks said.

Within the next week, a public announcement of the proposed regulation changes will be published in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and other newspapers, initiating a 45-day public comment period. The Pollution Control and Ecology Commission will hold a public meeting at 6 p.m. June 17 at the Durand Conference Center in Harrison. The deadline for public comment regarding the proposed amendments is 4:30 p.m. July 1.

Once the public comment period closes, the petitioners will be required to address all comments in written form. The petitioners then will report back to the commission, which will seek legislative review of the issue before issuing a decision. Noland said he expects the entire process to take between four and six months.

If the petition fails, the moratorium issued Friday will expire in six months, and the Environmental Quality Department again will have the authority to issue Regulation 5 and 6 permits inside the watershed.

Information for this article was contributed by David Smith of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.