Industries harm waterways

Dear editor:

Arkansas is second in the nation for chicken production, which has accounted for $35 billion in economic activity in the state. Pork production, another contributor to the economy, is a $100 million per year industry in Arkansas. The larger scale versions of these industries, more generally known as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), provide profitable economic activity to the state. On the other hand, these industries are harming our waterways.

Manure produced from CAFOs can contain plant nutrients, pathogens, antibiotics or cleaning chemicals, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Groundwater, a major source of drinking water in the United States, can become contaminated by CAFOs through runoff from the land application of manure. Even after a CAFO is closed, the contaminants can remain in the system for years. Surface water can be contaminated by heavy storms or floods that cause waste lagoons to overfill, allowing its contents to escape into nearby bodies of water. This can cause nutrient enrichment, which in turn causes eutrophication and a rapid increase of algal growth. Ammonia, which is often found in the surrounding waters near CAFOs, is also of concern. Ammonia can cause an oxygen depletion in the water body, making it uninhabitable by fish.

One area of concern in Arkansas is the area surrounding the C&H Hog Farm, near Mount Judea, which is near the Buffalo River. The Buffalo River is not only a main tourist attraction, but it is also connected to a major groundwater source known as the Ozark Plateaus Aquifer System in northern Arkansas. The C&H Hog Farm was denied renewal for operations by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) as of January 2018, but weeks later the farm filed for a hearing to continue operation. Animal operations, like C&H, provide substantial economic benefit to the state and significant harm to the environment. Samantha Wacaster Hot Springs