Relief On The Way?

[John Berry]

Today's Baxter Bulletin reports that the Arkansas State Legislature is trying to allocate $350,000.00 to stabilize the fiasco that is Norfork Overlook Estates. An unprincipaled developer scalped a mountain overlooking the pristine Norfork River over a year ago. He did not obtain a storm Water runoff plan as required by federal law, a violation of the Clean Water Act. The first time it rained part of the mountain washed into the river turning it into a mud hole. The same thing happens everytime it rains. ADEQ and TU filed suit to force the developer to cease polluting the river. Since the suit was filed nothing has been done and the situation on site has deterioted.

ADEQ is trying to clean the site and prevent further damage to the River. The cost is estimated to be $500,000.00 with the remainder of the money to come from AGFC. I hope the Judge on the case allows the clean up. Otherwise, this case could drag on for years. Save the Norfork while there is something to be saved!

[Kansas Fly Fisher]

It's good to hear that something is starting to be done. Thanks for the update and keep us informed.

John

[RiverRunner]

Thank goodness something substatial is finally being done. If they had started last year, it wouldn't have cost the taxpayers (us) nearly as much and the river would be in much better shape today. The only good thing I see coming from this is that the authorities will be forced to enact tougher standards for developments along or near the rivers.

[Terry Beeson]

Yes, but the money is earmarked to clean up the development site an not the river itself.

Yes, this is good news for sure, but you should be concerned that your tax dollars are going to be spent to clean up this mess that was not caused by accident. Now the dollars we spend on license and probably the 1/8 cent sales tax dollars are going to go to that effort. The guilty party should be paying this half-million dollars PLUS the clean up of the river.

I'll give Beebe the benefit of the doubt. At least he's doing SOMETHING!

[John Berry]

I too agree that the perpetrator should be required to fix this. However I fear that this thing will be tied up in the courts forever. The idea here is to clean this site up so that the bleeding is stopped. We cannot clean the river until the siltation is stopped. If this guy loses the suit then he should the reimburse the government agencies for fixing his mess.

[Yellow rods]

A friend of mine had an idea. The state should take this land and give it to the Boy Scouts at least then we wouldn't have to worry about this kind of problem. Plus it would give an opportunity for the scouts to have somewhere to camp and have mettings ect.

[Terry Beeson]

JB,

I totally agree with you. I'm not advocating watching the patient die while arguing over the cause of the wound. It's just disgusting that a blatant ignorance of a regulation results in taxpayer dollars having to be spent. And I'm afraid before the time comes to pay the piper, there will be nothing left to pay him with.

YR,

Your friends idea has some merit, but I'm afraid if that happened every time, we would soon live in the United Sates of Boy Scouts... And as long as this is tied up in court, there's nothing that can be done. Except.... Can this property be legally sold as it stands right now? I don't think there is any kind of court order or injunction preventing sale, right?

[BuschTrout22]

Well I too think that Benny should be held responsible. Im glad to see someone taking act and trying to clean this up, however I dont think it should come out of taxes. Why would the judge allow that. This slime is the whole problem.

Have the state pay to stop the bleeding get in the court room, and have this joker reimburse the money it costs.

I was just down there and the conditions were horrible. I couldnt see 2ft into the river when generation was running and when it rained.

Very sad to say the least

Again sorry for not getting the pics Terry... Needless to say my wife is no longer in charge of the camera dept in my household

[RiverRunner]

I'm not sure that the stained water you are seeing in the North Fork River is a result of overlook, but is a result of water quality issues in Norfork Lake itself. As far as Mr. Doyle paying for this mess, I'm in full agreement that he should bear the financial responsibility for the clean-up of both the land and the river. However, it would take years in court to force him to pay, and even then, he may be able to file a chapter 11 bankruptcy to absolve himself of any judgement that he might have to pay. I think the prudent thing to do right now is to use taxpayer monies to clean up and possibly seize the site from Mr. Doyle. Once the site has been stabilized to the point that run-off does not occur, work can begin on removing silt from the river bed. I see no reason to begin that process while run-off continues to flow from the site.

Once the site is secure and the siltation is removed from the river, that is the time to seek restitution from Doyle. I'm no lawyer, but I think that it will be extremely difficult to get any money from Doyle to repay the state for cleaning up the site. I think it will be a victory if the land is seized from him and he forced out of business due to this fiasco. I'd like to see all of his assets frozen, house and cars seized, IRS audits and all that stuff that would ruin him and put him out of business and run out of town, but as unfair as it is, I think that the taxpayers of Arkansas and anglers who enjoy the Norfork tailwater will be the ones who fit the bill for Benny's big mistake.

[Terry Beeson]

...Needless to say my wife is no longer in charge of the camera dept in my household

I hope SHE didn't hear you say that...

As I understand it, this was an "emergency order" by Gov. Mike Beebe, so the judge has little to do with this. Since it is in the middle of a lawsuit, the judge could issue an injunction or order of some sort to do something, but there might be some criteria that has to be followed in order to do that... I'm not sure... Maybe someone in that arena can tell us?