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Tropical Storm Debby brought heavy rains and threats of flooding to North Carolina on Thursday, highlighting the vulnerability of pig lagoons and sewage treatment plants.
By Austyn Gaffney
As rain fell in North Carolina and the threat of flooding increased across the state, officials were tracking roughly 70 dams and lagoons containing animal feces that had overflowed or were in danger of rupturing Thursday, a number that more than doubled between morning and morning. late. .
At least 17 animal feeding operations were included in the follow-up. At least three of them had absorbed enough water from Tropical Storm Debby to accumulate debris in the lagoons in degrees greater than allowed; they weren’t necessarily overflowing, according to an online page tracked by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.
Most of those animal operations are large-scale hog lagoons that combine urine, feces and other pig waste with water and anaerobic bacteria. The resulting slurry is stored in open pits that turn bright pink as bacteria digest the sludge into its odor.
Contamination enters waterways when open wells overflow or when the earth walls of a well collapse. Pig droppings that have been sprayed on neighboring fields would likely flow downstream if the fields are oversaturated, although fumigation is not allowed when it rains. Dead animals that die in floods can also pollute waterways.
North Carolina has issued licenses to more than 2,500 puppy shops, the majority of which are pig shops. North Carolina is the third largest hog manufacturer in the country, and in 2023, the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services counted 8 million hogs in the state park. farms.
During Hurricane Florence in 2018, at least 110 lagoons discharged pig manure or were about to do so.
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