IATP Hog Report - Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

Section 4
Hog farm odors and the volatile organic compounds given off from
manure lagoons appear to be especially hard for asthmatics to tolerate. 25
In August 1999, a study led by epidemiologist Steven Wing of the
University of North Carolina found that residents living near a 6,000-hog
factory farm reported a higher occurrence of headaches, runny noses, sore
throats, excessive coughing, diarrhea, and burning eyes than residents of a
community where no liquid manure facilities were nearby. 26 Quality of
life, as indicated by the number of times residents could not open windows
or go outside even in nice weather, was greatly reduced among residents
living near the hog factory. North Carolina Pork Producers' director,
Walter Cherry, asked for Wing's data, indicating that the Pork Council was
considering whether the researchers had defamed the pork industry. 27
Final results were released in February and confirmed the earlier results,
but Cherry called it "junk science." 28
A 1997 University of Iowa study compared responses of residents living
near a 4,000-sow hog factory with a control group of residents living near
minimal livestock production. 29 Compared to individuals in the control
group, residents living near the operation reported a higher incidence of
toxic or inflammatory effects on the respiratory tract, similar to those
experienced by hog confinement workers.
On February 15, 2000, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH)
released its review of data from Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
(MPCA) hydrogen sulfide monitoring at the ValAdCo hog finishing site in
Renville County. 30 Stressing that its estimates were conservative due to
limitations in data collection (monitors were unable to detect emissions
above 90 parts per billion (ppb), for example), MDH stated that ValAdCo
emissions violated the State standard 53 times in 1998 and 106 times in
1999. On 100 occasions over those two years the hydrogen sulfide
emissions levels were at least 90 parts per billion. 31 The number of
violations occurring in 1999, after ValAdCo had started using a floating,
permeable lagoon cover and straw cover, were double those of the
previous year when there was no cover. 32 In September 1999, over six
hours in one day had levels greater than or equal to 90 ppb. The MDH
concluded that the monitored concentrations are high enough to cause
nausea and headaches and interfere with the quality of life of nearby
residents. ValAdCo operators consistently maintained that their site posed
no health hazards to neighbors, and despite the recent findings, continue to
do so. 33
Dr. Susan Schiffman, a psychologist at Duke University School of
Medicine, studied 44 subjects living near North Carolina hog operations
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