NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A state lawmaker, who pumped more than a half million gallons of hog waste into a creek, denies he received special treatment from state regulators.
But a NewsChannel 5 investigation discovered one state inspector was told by his managers to look the other way.
Not only did state Rep. Andy Holt go for years without the proper permit for his hog farm, an inspector with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) found he improperly dumped dead hogs and contaminated a creek for more than a mile.
But the inspector wrote that upper management at TDEC discouraged enforcement action.
Holt is the powerful vice chair of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee who often criticizes over-regulation and big government.
The Republican lawmaker's hog farm in Dresden, Tennessee in Weakly County had as many as 1,400 hogs.
But NewsChannel 5 Investigates discovered that, despite his claims of heavy government regulation, the state ignored "serious" environmental violations on his farm and let him operate for years without a permit.
A state inspector took pictures showing dead hogs -- not properly buried -- on a visit to Holt's farm in 2011.
He also photographed hog waste being pumped out of an overflowing lagoon and into a nearby creek.
It turned the creek black a mile away.
NewsChannnel 5 Investigates asked Holt, "Do you think that's a problem?"
He responded, "Sure, that's not something that we do on a regular basis."
But state e-mails show concerns about Holt's farm continued into 2012.
One regulator questioned "I wonder if Andy is disposing of dead hogs in an open pit again."
Other documents show a neighbor complained that Holt sprayed hog manure in trees on her property.
"I assume from that report there was some manure that got in the trees," Holt said. "But it was not in a neighbor's tree in their front yard by any means."
NewsChannel 5 Investigates noted, "But the neighbor was upset."
"I assume," Holt responded.
Despite those problems, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation did not take action against the state representative.
After taking the pictures in 2011 one inspector wrote, "Several serious violations noted, but an EAR (Enforcement Action Review) was discouraged by upper management."
We asked Holt, "Do you know why an enforcement action was discouraged by upper management?"
Holt answered, "I can honestly say that is not something that has ever been brought to my attention."
NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked the commissioner for the Department of Environment and Conservation, "Is he getting special treatment because he's a state representative?"
Commissioner Robert Martineau responded, "No."
TDEC oversees environmental regulation of large hog farms and other confined animal feeding operations in Tennessee.
So why was an enforcement action discouraged by upper management?
"I don't know who put that there," Martineau responded.
The department later said the inspector who wrote enforcement action "was discouraged" has since retired and they aren't sure what he meant or who the "upper manager" was.
But when that note was written in 2011, Holt's farm had already operated for two years without a permit.
In 2012, after nearly three years without a permit, the state ordered him to turn in the required paperwork so he could get a permit.
"This isn't something where I just said nope. I don't want a permit," Holt said. "I don't want to have to apply for that. That's not the case. There were several attempts made to apply for the permit."
State records show Holt submitted the exact same incomplete paperwork in 2012 and 2013, but the state let him keep on operating.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked, "Were you really trying to get this permit?"
"Yes absolutely," the lawmaker insisted. "I was trying to make a good faith effort."
NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked Commissioner Martineau, "This has gone on for years. When do you go to the Attorney General and say let's shut this place down?"
"I can't guess in hypotheticals," Martineau responded.
"But his position had nothing to do with the fact it went on for so long?" we asked.
"No," Martineau said.
Now, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has stepped in and demanded information from Holt.
In our interview, Holt said it didn't matter because he is now out of the hog business.
"There's no hogs on site. We haven't been producing hogs since sometime in 2014," Holt said.
But a full month into 2015, Sky5-HD flew over Holt's farm and found another exposed hog carcass, this time surrounded by buzzards.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked, "How old is that carcass?"
Holt's answer: "I don't know, but we're out of the hog business -- there's no doubt about that whatsoever."
"For how long?" we asked.
"Since the end of 2014, as I told you," Holt said.
Holt claimed that the buzzards dug up the month old carcass.
In the meantime, he continues blasting over-regulation, especially by the EPA.
"When the burdens of over-regulation keep people from entering into or maintaining a business, I think that's a problem," Holt said.
But he did not mention how regulators allowed him operate for years without a permit and how the state overlooked him pumping hog manure into a nearby creek.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked the lawmaker, "Was there any special treatment here?"
"I don't there there is," he said. "I think I've had a good relationship with these folks."
In 2012, Holt and his wife received an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii from the Farm Bureau. It was part of an award for excellence in agriculture.
