A federal judge wants regulators to take another look at the potential impact of a hog farm near the Buffalo National River in northern Arkansas. Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. said Thursday a previous assessment was too brief. That review helped qualify the farm for $3.4 million in loan guarantees from the Small Business Administration.
C&H Hog Farms is a concentrated feeding operation near Mount Judea. It is allowed to have 2,000 full-grown sows and up to 4,000 piglets at a time. Environmentalists fear farm waste could taint the Buffalo National River, but studies have shown that hasn't happened.
Arkansas Farm Bureau spokesman Steve Eddington told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper Thursday's ruling will likely have a greater impact on future farms, not C&H already has its loans and is operating.
