Florence Engulfs Hog Farms And Chicken Houses, Thrashing North Carolina Agriculture

Farmers across the southeastern part of North Carolina are just starting to report details about the hit they’ve taken from Hurricane Florence. The rain is over, but rivers still are rising, and the full picture of damage to farms and the surrounding environment probably won’t be known for weeks.

Before the hurricane, many were worried about thousands of open-air ponds where farmers store manure from their hogs, allowing the waste to decompose. According to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, as of noon on Sept. 18, the walls on four of these “lagoons” had failed, allowing manure to escape. Nine additional lagoons had been inundated by flooding from nearby streams, and 13 had received so much rainfall that they had overflowed their banks. Several dozen more were at or near the limit of what they can hold.

These lagoons have already been the focus of intense political controversy in North Carolina. Some residents who live near them have filed lawsuits against a large pork processor, accusing the company of creating a public nuisance and environmental hazard, and won million-dollar judgments.