A scrutinized mass production swine farm in northwest Arkansas will soon undergo drilling tests to determine if the waste storage ponds on the property are leaking contaminants into the soil and groundwater. The C and H Hog Farm along Big Creek near Mount Judea is about 7 miles from where the creek flows into the Buffalo National River. It’s permitted to have 2,500 sows and 4,000 piglets and has been criticized by nearby residents and environmental groups about the perceived risk of pollution from hog waste.
According to the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, using a sonic-drilling rig, samples will be pulled from the ground by boring approximately 120-feet in the vicinity of the waste storage ponds to evaluate the subsurface and collect soil and groundwater samples for analysis of potential contaminants.
It is anticipated the drilling and sampling will take about two days . Core and water samples will be sent to Arkansas Analytical, a certified environmental laboratory. The Buffalo River Watershed Alliance requested samples be split and sent for to the ADEQ laboratory, the Ouchita Baptist University laboratory and the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s Soil Testing and Research lab.
It is estimated full lab results and analysis will require six weeks and the final findings will be presented to the ADEQ this fall.
A lawsuit seeking to curtail operations at the hog farm ended in February after two federal agencies released a report finding no significant environmental impact on the land near the Buffalo River. The 81-page report concluded that construction and ongoing operation of C and H Hog Farms is unlikely to cause permanent damage to the environment.
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