Hurricane Florence is the latest illustration that “flood-prone coastal states like North Carolina are no place for CAFOs,” said the Union of Concerned Scientists, calling for tighter regulation of industrial livestock farms. Gov. Roy Cooper and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue are scheduled to view agricultural damage today and may see some of the four dozen manure lagoons statewide that are flooded or overflowing because of storm water.
The state Department of Environmental Quality’s tally over the weekend was lower than the five dozen damaged, flooded or overflowing lagoons reported on Thursday and Friday. In addition, fewer hog lagoons were at risk of overflowing but the number remained sizable — 18 lagoons were full to the brim and 39 were within three inches of maximum capacity on Sunday.
A first estimate of livestock losses was 3.4 million poultry and 5,500 hogs. The Union of Concerned Scientists said that the figure “very well may rise” because flooding shut off access to farms. North Carolina is second in the nation in hog production and third in broiler chickens.
“Releases of bacteria-laden manure sludge from CAFO lagoons in flooding like we’re seeing [were] inevitable in a hurricane- and flood-prone state like North Carolina,” said the UCS blog. “If Hurricane Florence teaches us anything, it’s that flood-prone coastal states like North Carolina are no place for CAFOs. At a minimum, the state must tighten regulations on these facilities to protect public health and safety.”
The UCS also urged state and federal action to shut down lagoons and help farmers switch to more sustainable practices, as livestock producers or as crop farmers. Like the Environmental Defense Fund, the UCS called for more funding for a program to “buy out” lagoons.
Flooded crops cannot be used for human food, the North Carolina state Agriculture Department said. “They also cannot be used for animal feed unless they pass a testing protocol.”