Biogas does not solve pollution from industrial swine facilities
Why?
Biogas production will do little to address odors, pathogens, ammonia, or disease-causing vectors that harm neighbors, our waterways, and our air and diminish the quality of life for people living nearby. In fact, it will increase concentration of harmful pollutants applied to sprayfields, further threatening the rivers and streams of eastern North Carolina.
Additionally, biogas processing at industrial swine facilities would lock in the harmful lagoon and sprayfield systems. This is directly opposed to the agreement made in 2000 between Smithfield and North Carolina’s then-Attorney General Michael Easley, an agreement that requires the implementation of environmentally superior waste management technology, not the continuation of the antiquated lagoon and sprayfield waste management system.
Our Ask?
Update 6.30.21: Ask N.C. Governor Cooper to veto Senate Bill 605
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/tell-nc-governor-cooper-to-veto-senate-bill-605-farm-act-2021/
Senate Bill 605, N.C. Farm Act 2021, includes Section 11 that would require the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality to issue a one-size-fits-all general permit for directed biogas projects at large-scale industrial hog facilities. This section of the Farm Bill would allow facilities to install new technologies to generate biogas (for sale to Dominion Energy) without adopting stronger pollution controls or addressing existing pollution concerns for our rivers and our communities.
The antiquated swine waste management system using lagoons and sprayfields harms our water, air and health. The biogas plans proposed in North Carolina do not fix these pollution issues and in some ways may make the problem much worse.
We want to support North Carolina farmers, but not at the expense of our environment and communities. We stand with local community members who have been harmed for decades. And we will continue to advocate for reform that truly benefits communities and our waterways.
The bill has passed the House and Senate with Section 11 intact, and is now before North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper. Ask Governor Cooper to veto this bill today!
Our Ask in January 2021:
That North Carolina’s current Attorney General, Joshua Stein, require Smithfield to implement environmentally superior waste management technology at company-owned and contract hog operations to address harm to North Carolina’s waterways, air quality and citizens’ health, as required by the 2000 Smithfield Agreement.
We ask that Smithfield be held to its commitment to clean up its mess and use environmentally superior technology in managing its waste.