IATP Hog Report - Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

Section 3
gambling with environmental disaster. As the waters from
Floyd recede, it is now clear that North Carolina just lost
that bet. When legislators return to Raleigh next May, they
should set a short-term deadline for the closing of all hog
lagoons. This technology is not safe
http://www.iatp.org/hogreport/sec3.html (9 of 23)2/27/2006 3:50:08 AM
Even in the absence of such catastrophic events as hurricanes, spills too
numerous to mention are reported every year from industrialized hog,
dairy, and poultry farms in states where liquid manure handling and
storage in earthen basins are permitted. These have been documented in
the Natural Resources Defense Council/Clean Water Network's 1998
report, America's Animal Factories, 59 and updated for 1999 by the
Network and the Izaak Walton League in a report entitled Spilling Swill. 60
Part Five of this report recounts the experiences of residents in Missouri,
Oklahoma, and other states with factory farm pollution.
The industry is often quick to deny responsibility for accidents. In April
1999, an accident at a Murphy Family Farms site in North Carolina spilled
up to 2 million gallons of manure into a Duplin County creek and
wetlands. 61 In a May 17 letter to the North Carolina Division of Water
Quality, a Murphy spokesperson opined that the spill was caused by
vandals. 62 Following an investigation, however, the state found that the
spill occurred when a subcontractor left the site while pumping waste from
one lagoon to an emergency backup lagoon. Murphy Farms was fined
$40,650. 63
The Iowa legislative report on lagoon leakage indicated that major spills
had occurred from nine percent of the lagoons examined. 64 Poor
management and maintenance activities were observed at 76% of the
facilities. Many of the lagoons were located less than 500 feet from a
stream; at one site, the operator had actually constructed the lagoon by
impounding the valley of a small stream. The lagoons examined were built
in accordance with state standards.
In 1997, significant outbreaks of Pfiesteria piscicida occurred in several
rivers on Maryland's Eastern Shore, killing thousands of fish and making
people sick. 65 Some of the waterways were closed to recreational and
commercial uses for several weeks due to Pfiesteria activity. Laboratory
and field data show that the growth of Pfiesteria is stimulated by the
presence of nutrients, especially phosphorus and nitrogen. Seventy-five
percent of the major fish kills due to Pfiesteria in North Carolina have
been in waters with excessive nitrogen and phosphorus content, and
evidence suggests that nutrients also played a role in the other 25%. 66 In
North Carolina, pollution due to excessive nutrient loadings were blamed
primarily on the hog industry. Pfiesteria and Pfiesteria-like organisms
have been identified in several rivers in the Chesapeake Bay. The majority