LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas will review a proposal to remove waste from the country’s first “national” river watershed after a large hog farm accepted a buyout from the state to close its site following years of environmentalist complaints.
The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment hired Harbor Environmental to draft the closure plan for C&H Hog Farms, which was completed late September. It includes permanently banning medium and large hog farms from the Buffalo National River watershed.
C&H took a $6.2 million buyout from the state this summer to shutter the farm.
Critics have expressed concern over pollution, but the research has not explicitly found that C&H caused the algae in the river.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that people can submit comments on the plan until Oct. 15.
C&H owners declined to comment.
