All parties involved in a lawsuit over drilling pollution research to be conducted at a large hog farm near the Buffalo National River in Newton County have reached a settlement, according to the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance.
Scientist consulting was requested by the alliance and other opponents of the hog farm earlier this year at C&H Hog Farm in Mount Judea after studies by the Big Creek Research and Extension Team in March 2015 showed an abnormally high amount of moisture beneath one of the farm's manure ponds, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported.
The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, after denying the alliance access to drilling research at the site but admitting observers with the Big Creek Research and Extension Team, was accused, along with the hog farm, of violations of due process and equal protection.
Negotiations with the department and Gov. Asa Hutchinson resulted in both sides agreeing to bar the Big Creek Research and Extension Team and the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance from drilling at the site, the alliance said in a news release Friday.
Instead, the release states, an independent consultant with training in geology will be present to monitor activities at the hog farm.
Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.