Back in 1997, the NC General Assembly passed a moratorium on building any new hog waste lagoons to give NC State University time to conduct an extensive study on alternative ways to manage hog waste. NC State found that there are several technologies that are environmentally superior and could effectively manage hog waste and protect the environment and communities. The moratorium has been extended several times already and is set to expire later this year. A temporary extension of the moratorium on new lagoons again will do nothing to solve the problem that communities are facing now with existing lagoons. Farmers need incentives to implement alternative technologies, communities need funds to clean up their contaminated water, and we need to permanently ban the lagoon and sprayfield system. HB 1115, North Carolina Swine Farm Environmental Performance Standards/Funds Act, does this.  

* For a 15 minute video on the problem, click here.

* For major North Carolina laws related to hog factory farms, click here. (PDF)

* For more information on asthma rates in children attending school near a factory hog farm, click here. (PDF)

* For more information on the health effects of factory hog farms on nearby communities, click here. (PDF)

* To see where hog farms are located in eastern North Carolina, click here. (PDF)

* For a look into the ongoing problem resulting from factory hog farms in North Carolina take a look at the Pulitzer Prize-winning articles that ran in the News & Observer in 1996, click here. (PDF)