Hurricanes & CAFOs – what to watch for
On Monday, August 3rd, Hurricane Isaias threatened our communities and our waterways. Before Isaias’ arrival, Waterkeeper Alliance issued a press release, Hog and Poultry Waste Threat in NC Has Gotten Worse Since Hurricane Florence>>.
Our Lumber Riverkeeper, Jefferson Currie II, and Waccamaw Riverkeeper, Cara Schildtknecht, are actively monitoring their respective watersheds, along with all of the NC Waterkeepers and Waterkeeper Alliance as part of our NC Pure Farms Pure Waters Campaign>>.
They want you to know what to watch for with CAFOs in your communities when the National Weather Service issues warnings and/or watches (note: the list below is paraphrased from the NC requirements>>).
Swine CAFOs:
- spraying liquid animal waste on sprayfields is NOT ALLOWED when it is raining or snowing
- spraying liquid animal waste on sprayfields is NOT ALLOWED after 12 hours from the time a warning/watch was issued for the respective county)
- spraying liquid animal waste on sprayfields is NOT ALLOWED if it’s windy enough to impact neighbors or wetlands/surface waters)
- spraying liquid animal waste on sprayfields is NOT ALLOWED if the land is flooded, saturated, frozen or snow-covered
Poultry CAFOs:
- poultry litter (poultry waste) CANNOT BE APPLIED on land when it is raining or snowing
- poultry litter CANNOT BE APPLIED on land that is flooded, saturated with water, frozen, or snow-covered
Questions? Contact your Riverkeeper:
Lumber Riverkeeper, Jeff Currie – LumberRK@winyahrivers.org or (910-668–0372)
Waccamaw Riverkeeper, Cara Schildtknecht – Riverkeeper@winyahrivers.org or (843) 349-4007.
Together we can protect fishable, swimmable, drinkable water for our families and our future.