Readers want hearing

by Mike Masterson

Thanks to valued readers who responded to my call last week for comments on our governor and the Pollution Control and Ecology Commission needing to instruct the foot-dragging Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (cough) to schedule a hearing where all new research on possible contamination of the Buffalo National River watershed by the hog factory at Mount Judea can be formally submitted. Here are a few responses.

From Virginia McKimmey: "Thank you for your tireless effort to try to do something about the swine fiasco close to the Buffalo River. When I've called our elected officials' offices about this matter, I have been told nothing can be done! That makes me furious ... People are disgusted with politics. The Buffalo is our only national river, so why can't our congressional delegation do something since local politicians won't? I like regulation since banks, business and people don't do such a good job of regulating themselves. It's all about politics and the bottom line."

From Dorothy Trickey: "On the Buffalo River/C&H Hog Farm--our governor and Pollution Control and Ecology should force a hearing on this matter. Our river should be saved from pollution and loved and enjoyed by all Arkansans as well as tourists. Save the Buffalo! Thanks for keeping us informed on this issue."

From Bill Caller: "We need hearings, not based on money, but on saving the beautiful river in its pristine state. Please keep pen in hand and don't spare the paper. You need to be the voice for all of Arkansas."

Finally, I appreciated the following message from retired engineer Duane Woltjen: "There's no reason to believe the installation of pond liners will stop the obvious leakage or spillage that is evident by contamination of the well water. Even a perfect pond liner will not stop the leakage that's probably occurring through the floor of the building or due to incidental spillage.

"The pond liner, besides incurring obvious further risks associated with installation, fails to do anything to facilitate actual monitoring of liner leakage should it occur. Likewise, it does nothing to ensure that the floor of the barn is not also source of leakage--highly probable when a new building settles.

"It's of little comfort to realize that ADEQ actually only requires that leakage be less than 5,000 gallons a day for each pond acre, so it really isn't legally necessary to actually stop the leakage, just slow it down (if you can figure a way to actually measure leakage of that magnitude)."

"The only sure way to protect the resources of the people is obvious. I'll leave expression of how that might be done to a reasonably bright fifth grader."

------------v------------

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

Editorial on 10/03/2015