The Izard County Sheriff’s Department has released a statement regarding the dumping of raw sewage discovered in Horseshoe Bend and stated charges are forthcoming.
The incident was initially reported Feb. 27 to authorities who began their investigation. On Feb. 28, the illegal dumping occurred again, this time with a resident of Horseshoe Bend not only calling authorities but placing photos of the encounter on social media.
On Feb. 28, the owner of the company, Kenney Welch, commented on the incident, stating it had not happened before and was being corrected.
“…I have notified the health department myself,” said Welch, owner of Dawson’s Septic, said shortly after the company’s truck was photographed and posted on social media shown dumping the sewage in Horseshoe Bend.
Welch stated the employee who had dumped the sewage was new and had made the decision to dump after he began having issues with the vehicle he was operating.
“I hired a new guy to help me. He said the truck started messing up and instead of calling me like they should have, he thought, I’ll just dump this off to get the truck home. Well, you can’t do that ever, it is never okay. We don’t do that.”
Welch stated his business provides service to a widespread area and dumping sewer outside of the permitted areas is not a common practice.
“My guys are on the scene right now putting hydrated lime on it. We’re not hiding it and it’s being made out like we do this all the time and dump in the Strawberry River and no we do not. I have dump permits for Mammoth Spring’s Lagoon and the treatment center in Horseshoe Bend. The new guy made a mistake. I have notified the health department personally and they’re out there cleaning it up right now. The protocol calls for four bags of the hydrated lime. I told them to put 10.”
Although Welch stated the practice of dumping sewage outside of permitted areas is not a common practice, the Izard County Sheriff’s Department stated in their release it has occurred on more than one occasion.
“On Monday, deputies with the Izard County Sheriff’s Office responded to the Santa Fe Road Area of Horseshoe Bend in reference to a septic truck that had dumped raw sewage. The septic truck had already left the area. A report was taken, and an investigation opened,” the release said.
The following day, deputies responded to a second call.
“Deputies responded once again to the area of Santa Fe Road in Horseshoe Bend for a report of the septic truck actively dumping contents of the truck on private property. Upon arrival, they observed a septic truck and several areas that appeared to have been dumped on. Deputies immediately contacted the Arkansas Department of Healt hand Arkansas Department of Enviornmental Quality to seek assistance with these investigations.”
The Izard County Sheriff’s Office and Izard County Prosecutor’s Office are working with the Department of Health and ADEQ to ensure all possible criminal and civil repercussions are served to the parties responsible.
Lauren is a an award-winning journalist who decided after 10 years of newspaper experience to venture out. Hallmark Times was born.
