environment
Staff View: Sludge is in the air — We ain’t seen nothin’ yet
After a relative lull, sludge is back in the spotlight this spring as the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) prepares to announce a public meeting, a preliminary step before issuing new operating permits for three storage tanks which can hold over 800,000 gallons of meat and food-processing residuals.
Sludge storage planned near Cassville
A proposal is on the table with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to issue a Missouri State Operating Permit to HydroAg Environmental (HydroAg), LLC, for the operation of a no-discharge, above-ground, sludge storage facility one mile north of Cassville.
Former resident’s passing leaves questions
Thirty-year-old Springfield resident, Britney Carlo Shurtz — a former Purdy area resident and a 2005 graduate of Purdy High School — spent Christmas of 2017 in the hospital, recuperating from emergency surgery two days before.
CAFO concerns mounting
Leah Heidlage is sounding the alarm about the increasing number of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) coming into southwest Missouri.
Waste Warriors unite!
Barry County Waste Warriors, a new community group focused on cleaning litter in the area, met on Saturday to focus on cleaning by Highway 248 near the Cassville Area YMCA. Demetrius Wilson, 7, is pictured pitching a piece of trash into a bag being held by Levi Boxley, of Cassville.
Out of sight, out of mind
Missouri is home to thousands of potentially leaking underground storage tanks (USTs) that contain — or once contained — petroleum and other hazardous substances. Buried pre-1988, those tanks have long outlived their average 30-year life spans, and now exist, out-of-sight, out-of-mind, in unknown condition, without oversight and not subject to current regulations, said Ken Koon, director of the Tanks Division, of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
S.L.U.D.G.E., CRAP plan to sue to stop land-application statewide
Craig Family Farms, LLC, and the environmental groups Stop Land Use Damaging our Ground and Environment (S.L.U.D.G.E.), LLC, and Citizens of Randolph County Against Pollution (CRAP), LLC, served formal notice to six organizations last week of their intent to file a lawsuit in federal court to stop the land-application of meat and food-processing waste and biosolids to Missouri farmland. Targeted as prospective defendants are the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and waste-management companies, Bubs, Inc.; Denali Water Solutions, LLC (Denali); HydroAg Environmental, LLC; Reed Environmental, LLC; and Synagro Technologies, Inc., (Synagro).
Sheila Harris: A conundrum
My brother’s daughter Britney (“Brit”) left us on July 27, 2023, not by choice, but because remaining was no longer an option. Diagnosed with an aggressive form of central nervous system cancer when she was 30 years old, Brit fought valiantly for the sake of “her boys,” her husband and then-9-yearold son.
Sheila Harris: Walking on Swiss cheese
In Cassville and surrounding areas, there’s a mystery underfoot. It’s a mystery I’ve only been half aware of until I picked up a copy of a Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) publication at Kids’ Fishing Day last weekend.
SLUDGE plans fundraiser, informational opportunity
With Denali Water Solutions’ operations on hiatus, Vallerie Steele, spokesperson for the citizens group SLUDGE (Stop Land Use Damaging our Ground and Environment), fears that residents are forgetting the unpleasantries and hazards connected with the land-application of meat-processing waste. To bring the issue back to forefront of residents' minds, SLUDGE is hosting a fish-fry fundraiser and informational session on Saturday at 6 p.m. at H & H Pool Hall in Cassville.
