An environmental group estimates that 160,000 people would lose some of their property rights under legislation being considered in North Carolina to reduce the legal liability of large hog and poultry farms for noxious odors from animal waste. The North Carolina House passed a version of the so-called hog farm bill last week and sent it to the Senate, where a similar bill is in committee.
“The simple truth is that many lawmakers elected to represent the interests of North Carolinians are trying to snatch away their property rights at the behest of a multibillion-dollar corporation controlled by the Communist Chinese government,” said Ken Cook, head of the Environmental Working Group, referring to Smithfield Farms. Smithfield, the world’s largest pork producer, was purchased in 2013 by a Chinese company now named the WH Group.
“Many farmers need this protection from predatory lawyers who wish to use our farms to line their pockets,” said the North Carolina Pork Council, which applauded the proposed bill, HB 467. “Nuisance law needs to be clarified in regard to the type and amount of damages that should be available in agricultural lawsuits. Farmers continue to believe this clarification is appropriate to apply to pending cases as well as future cases.”
State and local governments traditionally allow leeway for the noise, dust, and odors created by agriculture, often because complaints arise as residential development moves into long-established farming areas. North Carolina is one of the nation’s leading hog and poultry states, with thousands of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Activists have complained for years of inadequate protection for residents against spills from manure lagoons or the smell of manure and urine from thousands of animals.
EWG researchers mapped more than 60,000 presumed residential sites statewide that are within a half-mile of a CAFO or a manure pit for a CAFO. By multiplying the number of sites by the average household size in each county, the EWG calculated that 160,000 North Carolinians live near a CAFO. Some 960,000 people, or nearly one in 10 state residents, live within three miles of a CAFO.
Under the legislation, the award in a lawsuit alleging an agricultural operation created a nuisance would be limited to the lost value from the property, such as rent or sales price. While the House amended its bill so it would not apply to existing litigation, the Senate bill would apply the new limit to existing lawsuits, said the EWG. Either bill, the group said, would “severely restrict the traditional property rights of hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians suffering from the pollution and stench of factory farms.”
The House bill was sponsored by Rep. Jimmy Dixon, a Republican from Duplin County. According to the EWG, Duplin County, with 760 CAFOs and an estimated 18.5 million hogs and chickens, leads the state in the number of residential parcels within a half-mile of a CAFO. Dixon, who is a farmer, said the bill was needed to protect farmers who produce hogs under contract for large processors, reported the Associated Press. During the House debate, Dixon said complaints about large farms were “at best exaggerations.”
Some 26 lawsuits were pending against Smithfield’s hog production division, said the EWG.
An interactive map showing the number of CAFOs and nearby neighbors in each North Carolina county is available here.