Broken promise
In the host of reader messages I regularly receive, one arrived from Chuck Oberste that cries out to be shared. He describes himself as a citizen of Pulaski and Searcy counties.
It seems Chuck, like many Arkansans who revere and appreciate the treasure that is our Buffalo National River, is more than a little upset over the state’s 2012 wrongheaded decision to quickly and quietly permit a hog factory in the national river’s watershed at Mount Judea. But his ire is rooted as much in our state’s broken promises as in the way this factory was so smoothly escorted through the approval process.
Oberste’s broken-promises approach to the controversy certainly is a different approach than the fundamental widespread outrage at allowing 6,500 waste-generating swine into this rare and sacred area we collectively call God’s Country.
He explained that in the early 1970s, hardworking landowners were dispossessed of their homesteads across 95,000 acres in the Buffalo River watershed with the promise their sacrifice would ensure the river and its pristine nature would forever be preserved and protected for generations to come.
The pain of their homestead loss was reduced somewhat by this promise, as they, too, appreciated and enjoyed this precious river.
“I’m of the opinion that the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality failed in their duty to the state and these good people especially,” he said.
“In the last decade I’ve met many locals who have pride in the Buffalo National River. They bear the family names that homesteaded the land that now is this park … I can’t remember a single person I’ve visited with that doesn’t believe the park actually saved the river. I consider Arkansas has failed in its duty to ensure its promise to those families that their loss at the time would not be in vain, since they could be proud that our state would honor our promise and always protect these clean, free-flowing waters. Arkansas has broken that promise made to hundreds of families that settled the watershed,” he said.
And to think, we so quickly broke this sacred promise with relatively minimal concern and to benefit one hog factory’s handful of local owners and perhaps a dozen workers—all supported by a major multinational corporation from Minnesota. Unbelievable, eh?
Power-line polecats
I seriously doubt Islamic extremists are behind what the FBI is calling three deliberate predawn attacks against the power grid in Lonoke County in recent weeks.
But there’s no question that someone who’s upset with the electric company is bent on continually shocking the good folks there with their criminal acts.
An account in the New York Times beneath the headline “Power Grid is Attacked in Arkansas” detailed how two power poles near Little Rock were taken down last Sunday by one or more people with an apparent ax to grind with the power company. After all, reasonable folks don’t risk prison to inconvenience a business, right?
The Times noted that the FBI already was investigating a complaint filed by Entergy Arkansas. In that case, a high-voltage transmission line had been torn down in Cabot in Lonoke County six weeks earlier. Someone (or ones) had attached a half-inch cable to a transmission tower, then spread the cable across an adjacent railroad track in an apparent attempt to use the force of a passing train to topple the entire structure. On Sept. 29, an electrical substation in the county had been set on fire. Someone had written: “You should have expected U.S.” on a control panel.
Supervisory Special Agent Kimberly Brunell said the FBI was checking into the possibility that the three incidents are connected, the Times reported.
As a distant observer with one opinion, I’d say that’s likely a given considering all this has been happening in just one of Arkansas’ 75 counties.
Federal authorities, including the U.S. Department of Energy, have posted a $25,000 reward to help catch the … well, I believe I’ll refer to them as the predawn power-line polecats. Officials need folks to keep an eye out and report anyone acting suspiciously around transmission lines or power stations. First Electric Cooperative was affected by one of the attacks and naturally seeks help in protecting its 10,000 miles of distribution lines that stretch across 17 counties. That’s a lot of ground for any company to watch.
Actually, I’m not sure how anyone hanging around a power substation or even a high-voltage power-line pole for more than enough time to walk past either one could keep from seeming suspicious: “Say there, Mister Odd Guy, why are you standing beside that transmission pole at 2 a.m. with a chainsaw in your hand?” See what I mean?
I feel certain the FBI and others in law enforcement are examining every possible angle behind such craziness, including why someone would have scribbled “You should have expected U.S.” on the control panel. So, hey, why don’t all of “US” pitch in to help catch these persistent power-line polecats?