Arkansasonline

Between the lines: Few pigs, sooiee
State gives ban on farms near Buffalo River a five-year try
By Brenda Blagg

There will be no more medium and large hog farms permitted in the Buffalo National River watershed for at least the next five years.
The Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission approved a temporary ban late last week, culminating a lengthy regulatory process.
Understand, the decision does not affect C&H Hog Farms, the huge operation in Mount Judea that opened in 2013 and is the reason the state even considered a ban.
The commercial farm is in uncomfortably close proximity to the Buffalo, the nation's first national river and a mecca for out-of-state tourists and Arkansas travelers alike.
The National Park Service reports more than 1.3 million people visited the Buffalo in 2014, spending $56 million or more at area businesses. Clearly, the river is not just a scenic natural treasure but also a major economic driver in Northwest Arkansas.
It is fiercely defended by river enthusiasts, environmentalists and others, all of whom see themselves as stakeholders in the river's legacy.
Consequently, the 2013 introduction of that huge commercial hog-farming operation near the river roiled the region and, indeed, the state.
The loudest outcry has come from those who fear pollution of the watershed and degradation of the pristine river; but there is another side of the argument from those who might want to use their land for a similar operation.
Mind you, since the uproar over C&H Farms, no one has sought a permit for any such thing. But this ban means no one will be allowed to put in such a farm, even if they might be so bold as to try, for at least five years.
For those unfamiliar with the ongoing controversy, the state Department of Environmental Quality granted C&H its permit to hold up to 2,500 sows and 4,000 piglets. The site where all these animals could be confined at any one time borders Big Creek, just six miles from where the creek meets the Buffalo.
The Pollution Control and Ecology Commission oversees the state Department of Environmental Quality, the permitting agency. Its action last week not only establishes a temporary ban but requires the department's director to initiate a rule-making process either to delete the ban or to make it permanent five years after it goes into effect.
The Pollution Control and Ecology Commission just made its decision last week, so the ban won't be effective for a few days more after official papers are filed.
Keep in mind that controversy about C&H, how the farm came to be and how it operates reaches beyond the state government level. This ban of new farms is strictly about what the state of Arkansas can do now.
Efforts at all levels to stop the C&H operation have been stout, but unsuccessful. So concerns continue from environmentalists, Buffalo River enthusiasts and neighbors to the swine farm.
Not only do some fear pollution of the watershed from the runoff of hog waste (contained on site in ponds and applied to fields in the watershed), opponents complain that the concentration of so many hogs in a small area creates odor that is carried through the countryside.
They can find some solace in the fact that the numbers of hogs permitted on the hillsides won't multiply any time soon.
But whatever C&H is or isn't doing to the watershed will continue unabated by the ban.
The commission's action last week will stall future medium and large hog-farming operations while studies on the impact of the C&H operation on water quality in the watershed continue. A University of Arkansas System study conducted by the Division of Agriculture is scheduled to observe the impact for four years. Plus, a parallel study by a university professor is being conducted as well.
Presumably, the science will ultimately prevail.
Meanwhile, smaller farms could still go into the watershed; but the ban will mean no new operation may have more than 750 swine that are 55 pounds or larger, or more than 3,000 swine under 55 pounds.
That still sounds like a lot of animals; but, again, no one has been seeking permits for new hog farms in the watershed. Maybe they won't want to go through the fight that would await.
To be sure, those who think any ban is an infringement on property owners' rights probably aren't happy with the compromise struck for a temporary ban of any kind. And those who wanted a permanent ban aren't happy either.
But this ought to help protect the Buffalo a while longer.
Commentary on 09/02/2015