Groups apply for fees in hog suit

After filing, joint request made to halt more materials

Attorneys for the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance and other environmental groups applied for $370,510 in attorneys fees this week in the lawsuit the groups filed against the U.S. Department of Agriculture and two federal agencies regarding loan guarantees made to C&H Hog Farms.

But immediately after filing the application for attorneys fees, the environmental groups and the defendants entered a joint request for a pause on submitting any more materials supporting or opposing the environmental groups’ application for attorneys fees until July 21.

In the joint request, the parties stated they were in continuing negotiations to resolve the dispute and did not want additional fees and costs to be incurred unnecessarily.

C&H Hog Farms is on Big Creek, 6 miles from where it meets the Buffalo National River. Environmental activists and others have been concerned about the amount of animal waste generated in the environmentally sensitive area.

The Alliance, the Arkansas Canoe Club, the National Parks Conservation Association and the Ozark Society sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Farm Service Agency and the Small Business Administration in August 2013, arguing that the latter two agencies failed to properly consult with other agencies, including the National Park Service, in conducting an environmental assessment of the farm while considering the loan guarantees.

The environmental assessment carried a “finding of no significant impact.”

In October, U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. ruled that the assessment was insufficient and violated the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.

The U.S. Small Business Administration and the Farm Service Agency had agreed to back $3.4 million in private loans made to C&H Hog Farms in Mount Judea after the farm was found to have insufficient collateral, meaning that the agencies would foot the bill for the farm’s loans if the farm defaulted.

The agencies haven’t made any payments on the loans and by a judge’s order cannot until the new environmental assessments are completed.