environment
Cassville public water concerns arise
Richard Asbill, city administrator of Cassville, is concerned about the future quality of the city’s public drinking water if the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) approves a pending operating permit for a sludge-storage tank.

Alarm in the name of karst
Karst topography represents a source of endless fascination for explorers, but its quirky characteristics — consisting of ever-dissolving limestone and dolomite, fractured with fissures, sinkholes, caves, springs and losing streams — present unique challenges for Missouri and Arkansas legislators.

Staff View — Sheila Harris: Death threats are not OK
I learned last week that Mike Henbest, owner of the property where HydroAg Environmental proposes to construct a sludge-storage tank, has been receiving death threats.

Staff View — Sheila Harris: Swallowing a horse-pill
It’s that time again. The Parks, Soil and Water (PSW) Sales Tax will appear on the Aug. 4 ballot this year as Amendment 1. The amendment, which appears on the ballot every 10 years, gives voters the chance to renew the one-tenth-of-one-percent sales tax that benefits Missouri State Parks and the Missouri Soil & Water Conservation Program.

Staff View — Sheila Harris: Hungry giants this way come
Some say the mushroom-like proliferation of data centers across the country can’t be stopped.

Staff View — Sheila Harris: Let’s cry foul — Our nest is in danger
My recent columns about the land-application of meat-processing sludge peeved our Barry County commissioners.

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.



