The good news is the rules for North Carolina hog farms have just been tightened. The bad news is the farms are still allowed to use the outdated technology of open waste lagoons and spray fields.

The state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) released the updated terms of the “general permit” which applies to hog farms with more than 250 swine which use lagoons and spray fields for waste disposal. The new terms will take effect October 1, and the permit will next be up for review in five years.

DEQ Secretary Michael Regan touted the new conditions as a boost to both efficiency and public health protection. These conditions include stronger limits on spraying which could be carried by the wind across neighboring property lines.

Another new condition requires groundwater monitoring wells for farms located within the 100-year floodplain. A news release from the North Carolina Sierra Club called the monitoring wells requirement its “most significant positive change,” and noted that it is the first time North Carolina has applied such a requirement to animal waste operations. The data will be publicly available.

However, conservationists also said the changes were not enough. Waterkeeper Alliance attorney Will Hendrick called them “incremental, overdue changes to a system that needs fundamental change.”

Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) attorney Blakely Hildebrand echoed that criticism, noting “the general permit does little to mitigate the risk of spills from industrial animal operations during major rain events, which are becoming increasingly intense and frequent.”

Environmental justice advocates and impacted hog farm neighbors will continue to advocate for a fundamental overhaul of the pollution control requirements applied to industrial hog operations.

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