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Company accused of dumping raw sewage
By Tim Bousquet
The Daily Citizen
Tuesday, June 1, 2004 12:43 AM CST
A local septic cleaning firm is accused of illegally dumping raw sewage on a Searcy couple's property.
Searcy resident Dan Moore called the Sheriff's Department on Tuesday, May 25 and reported that he had noticed raw sewage being dumped on his property on Highway 16. He provided Deputy Ben O'Neal with a description of a blue truck bearing an emblem for "Barnes Septic Tank Systems," as well as a license plate number for the truck.
According to Moore's wife Callie Moore, the couple are former owners of One Moore Stop Market, a convenience store and gas station on Highway 16 atop Fourmile Hill, and own a small stand of woods across the highway from the market. They are accusing Barnes Septic of dumping sewage in the woods.
"I can't think of a worse thing you can do to a person," said Callie Moore. "This is as bad as murder."
On O'Neal's advice, Don Moore called the Health Department. John Hix, environmental health specialist, conducted an inspection of the site and "found a large quantity of sewage had been dumped on the ground," according to an affidavit the Health Department filed with the prosecuting attorney.
The next day, "Mr. Barnes came into this office to discuss the matter," reads the affidavit. "He said that his employee, Sam Tapp (licensed Septic Tank Installer) admitted to dumping three pumper truck loads on Mr. Moore's property instead of taking the loads to the Searcy City Sewer Plant."
"He admitted to three loads," said Callie Moore. "But that's more like 20 loads."
Barnes was at home Tuesday, according to a woman who answered his phone, but he did not return a call asking for comment.
Tapp did not respond to a message left on his answering machine.
Foster Smith, who owns property immediately north of the Moores' property, said he drove through the sewage on his ATV with his dog.
"I was going over to the store to buy a Coke or whatever," Moore said Tuesday. "I was four-wheeling through there and all this muck came flying up on me and burned me. It smelled like paint thinner. My hide is just now growing back."
Smith said he was so concerned about his health that he immediately washed off, collected a sample of the waste and drove to the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) office in Little Rock to find out what it was.
"But they just threw it away," he said. "They said they couldn't do anything with it unless they collected the sample. To tell the truth, I'm more upset with ADEQ than I am with Barry Barnes."
Smith said Barnes is a friend.
"We're related somehow, through in-laws or something."
ADEQ spokesperson Doug Szenher confirmed that Smith visited his office last Thursday.
"We told him he should see a doctor," said Szenher. "Septic waste is handled by the Health Department."
Smith said he experienced "strange nightmares" for several days, which have since disappeared.
"But I want to know what that was," he said. "I don't want to find out a year from now that it's doing something to me."
A reporter visiting the site Monday found a dirt road bisecting the Moores' property, which covers about three acres. The area had the stench of sewage, and chiggers and ticks abound. Pools of fetid liquid filled deep ruts in the road, and condom wrappers and toilet paper littered the woods.
The Moores' property is an undeveloped tract in the middle of a residential area. The road passes within 20 yards of the nearest house, which is owned by Sam Tapp's father, Lonnie Tapp, according to Smith.
Barnes is fully licensed to dump his septic truck at the sewage plant, said Dan Dawson, assistant general manager at Searcy Water and Sewer. Barnes' truck is licensed by the Health Department, and a $50 annual permit fee for dumping at the Searcy plant is valid until the end of July.
In addition to the permits and licenses, trucks dumping at the plant are charged $10 per load, said Dawson.
"He's been out here about five times in the last year," Paul Aberathy, a worker at the sewage plant, said of Barnes. "We rarely see him here."
According to an e-mail sent to the prosecutor's office by Donald Sanders, an environmental specialist with the Health Department, Barnes blamed Tapp for the dumping.
"These loads were pumped from septic tanks located at Letona and Mr. Barnes said Tapp's reason was he didn't want [to] go all the way over to the Sewer Plant to dump the loads," reads the e-mail.
It is 5.1 miles from the Moores' property to the sewage plant. Tapp lives about one mile from the property.
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