The Buffalo River Watershed Alliance, the nonprofit that has been at the front lines of the ongoing fight against the placement of a large hog harm five miles upstream from the Buffalo National River, is hosting a fundraising event along with the Arkansas River Blues Society on April 22.
C&H Hog Farm, the controlled animal feeding operation (CAFO) that fattens pigs for slaughter for a Brazilian meat processing conglomerate, had its permit denied by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), but is appealing the decision. Critics argue that the more than 2 million gallons of manure and wastewater generated annually by the facility are an existential threat to the vulnerable terrain and ecosystem of the Buffalo River watershed.
From the press release:
The current focus of BRWA is the “Save the Buffalo – Again” campaign. In 2012, an industrialized swine concentrated feeding operations (CAFO) was built on the banks of Big Creek, just 5 miles upstream from the Buffalo National River. Government oversight, including lack of public notification, of this swine CAFO’s development was deeply flawed. The now operating CAFO threatens to destroy the fragile ecosystem of our nation’s first National River. The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) who granted the original permit denied the second permit application. This is currently under appeal. BRWA along with the Arkansas Canoe Club and Ozark Society are intervenors in this appeal which is slated to be heard August 6, 2018 by the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission’s Judge Charles Moulton.
The event will be at the Revolution Music Room downtown, with thirteen bands performing between 2:00 and 8:30 p.m. The bands on tap: Liberty Bridge, Dan & Jeff Clanton, Tenpennygypsy, Steve Davison, Trey Johnson, Brian Nahlen Band, Harrisong with Sonja & Ted Williams, Karen Saxson & the Human Together Choir, Zakk & Big Papa Bins, Bluesboy Jag & the Juke Joint Zombies, A Rowdy Faith, Charlotte Taylor with Gil Franklin and Gypsy Rain and Josh Parks Band.