Waterkeeper Alliance
Wins
Smithfield Case
Nation’s Largest Hog Producer to Address
Pollution at 275 North Carolina Hog Facilities
In the spring of 2000, Waterkeeper Alliance, Neuse Riverkeeper and its
parent organization the Neuse River Foundation joined together to file
lawsuits against a pair of giant hog facilities that were polluting the
Neuse River. At the time, these facilities were operated by Murphy Farms,
but were aquired by Smithfield Foods during the course of the case.
After five years of litigation and negotiations, including a motion to
dismiss ruling in our favor that sets a helpful precedent for future
lawsuits, we reached a settlement that resolved the case before the actual
trial. The settlement agreement is a landmark in our efforts to enhance
environmental protections for North Carolina’s waters. Expanding
beyond the two facilities named in the original lawsuit, the agreement
covers every one of the swine production facilities in North Carolina
owned by Murphy-Brown, Smithfield’s hog production subsidiary – more
than 275 facilities in all.
The settlement calls for Murphy-Brown to develop and implement a computerized
weather alert system that will send “red flag” warnings to
each of its facilities, prohibiting them from spraying liquid hog waste
onto fields when a rainstorm is imminent or predicted. This requirement
will dramatically reduce the chances that the nutrients and pathogens
contained in swine manure will be washed into nearby streams and rivers.
Murphy-Brown will also install automatic shut-off devices that will stop
their spray guns on windy days. High winds tend to “aerosolize” liquid
manure as it leaves these sprayers, sending mists of waste into nearby
ditches and streams.
The agreement also contains several long-term programs that will help
us better understand the impacts of swine waste application on North
Carolina’s waters, and to improve farming practices to create better
protections for these streams and rivers. An independent consultant will
conduct a risk-analysis of all Murphy-Brown facilities to identify ones
that may be polluting groundwater with nitrogen, bacteria, or other contaminants.
If this analysis identifies any facilities that pose a risk to human
health or the environments, Murphy-Brown is required to take any necessary
steps to solve the problem.
Another independent consultant will conduct a survey of runoff leaving
Murphy-Brown’s fields after rainstorms. This may be the first and
most thorough study of this source of water pollution in the State of
North Carolina. In addition to expanding our understanding of the potential
that sprayfields have to pollute streams and rivers, this study will
help guide a further effort to enhance environmental management practices
at all Murphy-Brown owned facilities. Under this program, Murphy-Brown
has agreed to spend $1.2 million to upgrade setbacks, buffers, wetlands
and other practices that are intended to keep pollution from reaching
surface waters.
Waterkeeper Alliance is very pleased with this result. Our settlement
expands environmental protections at hundreds of swine operations. It
also sets a new standard for environmental performance at similar facilities,
whether in North Carolina or across the nation. In the coming months
and years, our campaign will focus on extending this success to other
operators, ensuring enhanced protection and water quality improvement
in watersheds around the nation.
where it empties into the Atlantic, the Neuse River journeys through some of the most concentrated hog raising country in the nation. According to the State of North Carolina, the river carries nearly 4,000 tons of nutrients each year, much of it from sprayfields where giant industrial hog facilities apply millions of gallons of liquid manure. This overload of nutrients chokes stretches of the river with algae, causes regular fish kills and has decimated a once vibrant fishery. Rural North Carolinians have memories of their favorite swimming holes and fishing spots, but the places themselves are long gone.
