The rain from Hurricane Florence may be over, but North Carolina residents are facing a nightmare — exploding hog poo lagoons. North Carolina is home to roughly 4,000 of these open-air ponds where farmers store pig excrement and allow the waste to decompose before using it as a fertilizer spray for crops. As of Tuesday, at least two hog waste lagoons in the state — one in Duplin County and one in Sampson County — have been breached, meaning a structural failure caused the lagoon’s walls to collapse or break, allowing poo and urine to escape. In addition, 13 of these lagoons have overflowed, 55 are nearly overflowing and nine of them are flooded, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality told Buzzfeed News. When lagoons break, hog waste and stormwater mix, exposing people who live close to the farm to contaminated water. The foul water also puts local ecosystems at risk after spreading to streams and rivers. Pig waste carries bacteria like E.coli and salmonella, and North Carolina hog farms are rife with strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Livestock farmers in eastern North Carolina previously tested positive for distinct strains of MRSA at nearby hospitals, Lance Price, a George Washington University public health professor and founder of the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center, told Wired. “We don’t think it’s a good idea for people to be swimming around in poop,” John Rumpler, clean water program director for Environment America, a Colorado-based advocacy group, told Bloomberg. “It’s a pretty serious public health risk that people should be concerned about.” These breaches were reported two days after North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said the state didn’t have any issues with its thousands of farms. “We are closely monitoring hog lagoons, and we haven’t had any reports of issues,” Cooper said on Sunday. A representative from Cooper’s office was not immediately available for comment. “NC Department of Environmental Quality staff is working with farmers and NC Department of Agriculture to respond to the crisis. As floodwaters recede and conditions are safe on the ground, inspectors will determine the extent of the damage, the impact at each farm and next steps going forward,” the NC DEQ told The Post in an emailed statement.<doc-sep>Story highlights Floodwaters are coming into contact with animal waste from thousands of farms Pits of pig waste are overflowing in several counties Landfills containing coal ash are flooded and spreading the industrial waste (CNN) — Even after a hurricane’s immediate threat of flooding goes away, North Carolina residents could face a host of potential health problems from the water brought by Hurricane Florence – and from what that water leaves behind. In addition to the usual physical and mental challenges floodwaters can typically bring, there is a potential problem for human health that involves some of the state’s key industries: hog farming and coal power generation. Rick Dove, Waterkeeper Alliance The Waterkeeper Alliance flew over flooded farms in North Carolina on Monday. Hog farms flooded out An earthen dam surrounding a hog lagoon was breached by floodwaters in Duplin County and in Sampson County, according to North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Michael Regan. As of Thursday, four other lagoons have structural damage. Hog or swine lagoons are human-made pits or dugouts that store animal waste. The lagoons are meant to help reduce pollution, and the the North Carolina Pork Council says it’s “rare” for lagoons to overflow, but there are reports of at least 30 lagoon “overtops,” the department said. There are 21 reports from the Department of Environmental Quality of hog lagoons being inundated by nearby bodies of water as well as of Thursday. The North Carolina Pork Council said that one of the lagoon breaches in Duplin County was at a small farm and that an on-site inspection showed “that solids remained in the lagoon.” There was no mention of whether there were any solids being released from the other lagoons that had structural damage or were inundated by floodwaters. The council said the other 3,300 lagoons in the state are in good shape, and the Department of Environmental Quality will do inspections when it can. Jeremy Harlan, CNN A hog lagoon, a pit for hog feces, in North Carolina after the flooding. The North Carolina Pork Council said it will also watch the situation closely. About 8.9 million pigs are raised on 2,100 farms across the state, and although farmers “took extraordinary measures” ahead of the storm, including moving thousands of animals to higher ground, they have suffered losses. The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services says the state has lost about 5,500 hogs. By comparison, North Carolina lost 2,800 swine to Hurricane Matthew in 2016. Farmers have also lost 3.4 million poultry to Florence. Those numbers are expected to grow inspectors are still unable to access all the farms and rivers haven’t crested everywhere, meaning flooding will get worse. “We know agricultural losses will be significant because the flooding has affected the top six agricultural counties in our state,” said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, who conducted an aerial survey of damage Tuesday. “We remain concerned about the potential impact of these record-shattering floods,” the North Carolina Pork Council said on its website. “We are continuing to assess the impact and expect to provide further updates later.” Hog farmers are required by law to report when a breach happens. Deputy Communications Director Bridget Munger said there may be other problem areas, but the staff has had to gather these reports quickly under difficult circumstances. The department’s Wilmington office had no power, and the staff in Fayetteville had to be evacuated due to flooding. “We are processing the information as quickly as we can, as it is coming in,” Munger said. The department will have a larger report out later. It’s unclear how much waste is in the storm water, but the waste pits contain bacteria like E. coli and Salmonella. Exposure to feces can cause kidney problems, vomiting, fatigue, stomach problems, skin infections and other issues. Regular exposure to hog waste, without flooding, to people who work with the animals or people who live near the farms can have a negative impact on health, according to studies. People have reported higher instances of lung problems like shortness of breath and cough and some neurobehavioral issues such as balance and verbal problems. There is also some concern about antibiotic-resistant bacteria. “The industrial farming and hog farms use a lot of antibiotics. It’s how you get growth hormones and get lots of animals fat quickly,” said Winifred Hamilton, who has studied the health consequences of flooding and is director of the Environmental Health Service at the Baylor College of Medicine. She said antibiotic-resistant bacteria levels were 250 times higher in sediment left in houses by floodwater from Hurricane Harvey in Texas last year. “When people are in their homes in the muck stage, they really need to be protected,” Hamilton said. Bring masks and protective gear. “You don’t want to touch the floodwater at all.” It may be hard to avoid contaminated water. Duplin and Sampson counties make up some of the most concentrated area for swine farms in the world, and the area had problems with health concerns related to pollution before the flooding. The waters could certainly compound those issues. An immunocompromised person, like someone with a chronic health condition, can face a salmonella infection, although that is rare. Bacteria and viruses could also be a problem. Cape Fear Riverkeeper Kemp Burdette has been watching the storm with great concern. The area has seen record flood levels that are expected to increase even more. The farms that are built on flood plains – and there are dozens – will be in serious trouble, he said, and he expects that more hog lagoons will breach before the storm is over. The dirt in fields that were sprayed with manure before the storm will also mix with storm water, and Burdette said the state will probably see some of the barns flooded out, meaning animals in those barns will probably die and further contaminate the floodwater. Compounding North Carolina’s troubles, Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman Maggie Sauerhage says, the state has reported that seven of its wastewater treatment facilities are “in nonoperational status.” “This is looking kind of like a worst-case scenario situation,” Burdette said.<doc-sep>The disposal sites had many flaws. Initially, the company dumped coal ash in unlined, open-air pits. Wastewater was used in coal ash ponds. “The coal ash basins at the sites were built in accordance with the required standards at the time,” Duke spokesman Bill Norton said in an email, adding that they were “highly engineered structures.” Yet environmentalists said the past four disposal basins at Sutton leached metals into the lake, and from there, into the Cape Fear River. In one case, Duke paid $2.25 million and built new pipes to bring clean drinking water to a small community.<doc-sep>As if North Carolina hadn't suffered enough from the storm called Florence, the state now faces a nasty side effect of the flooding: massive amounts of escaped pig poop. According to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), 21 pig-manure lagoons “overtopped,” releasing feces and urine into the environment. The lagoons, dug into the earth next to pig housing, are where the state’s more than 2,000 industrial-sized hog farms pump animal waste, which is then treated with waste-eating bacteria. The bacteria give lagoons a distinctive pink color. At least 89 lagoons in the state are at imminent risk of also releasing animal waste, according to data issued Wednesday by the DEQ. The state is home to almost 10 million pigs – second-most in the nation, after Iowa – many of which live in storm-affected Sampson and Duplin counties, according to the BBC. Escaped waste can cause severe health and environmental damage, according to The New York Times. Rain and flooding from Hurricane Floyd caused similar issues in 1999, leading to algae blooms and massive fish kills. Also, excess nitrates that move from groundwater into water supplies can cause “blue baby syndrome,” where nitrogen blocks the ability of red blood cells to carry enough oxygen, causing a baby's skin to turn blue, according to the Times. “You basically have a toxic soup for people who live in close proximity to those lagoons,” Sacoby Wilson, a professor of public health at the University of Maryland, told Vice News. “All of these contaminants that are in the hog lagoons, like salmonella, giardia, and E. coli, can get into the waterways and infect people.” Millions of animals, mostly turkeys and chickens have drowned in the flooding. On Tuesday, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said that 3.4 million chickens and turkeys had died, along with 5,500 pigs. More:Florence photos: See pets affected by the monster storm More:Did 'downgraded' Florence lend false sense of security?<doc-sep>
Three hog waste lagoons are believed to have breached due to Hurricane Florence’s record rainfall, according to the North Carolina Pork Council. Six sites have suffered structural damage so far and nearly 130 other lagoons are overflowing or at risk of flooding. This is almost four times the number of sites considered at risk since Monday. It is also significantly worse than the damage caused by Hurricane Matthew in 2016, which only resulted in a partial breach of one lagoon while 14 others were inundated. But the full extent of the damage will likely only be known once more people are able to return to their homes and farms. Widespread flooding is still blocking many roads, making many areas inaccessible and the majority of industrial animal farms sit in very low-lying counties. According to the latest figures released by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on Thursday afternoon, 132 lagoons are either damaged or have been significantly flooded. This means hog waste from the factory farm lagoons — uncovered holes in the ground that hold a mix of water, excrement, and anaerobic bacteria — is being released into the flood waters, risking widespread contamination. According to the North Carolina Pork Council’s September 19 update, of the lagoons that have breached — meaning there was structural damage due to the lagoon’s banks eroding — two have lost all of their liquids while solid waste remains contained. There are no details about the third breach. A further 30 lagoons have been so flooded the waste has overflowed, while 21 others are fully inundated by water and are at risk of overflowing. Seventy-five others have less than three inches to go before they’re flooded over. North Carolina is known for its pork industry. The state has 9.7 million pigs, which produce 10 billion gallons of manure each year. The majority of the state’s 2,100 industrial farms sit in the low-lying counties of Sampson and Duplin, which have now each had a lagoon breach. When the untreated waste enters the water it can lead to algal blooms and mass fish die-offs. Salmonella, giardia, and E. coli are all possible contamination risks. Excess nitrates linked to manure can also pose health risks, including blue baby syndrome. Previous contamination experienced due to Hurricane Matthew included food poisoning and skin infections. Elevated fecal coliform bacteria in the water was still found four months after the storm hit, according to DEQ analysis. But it’s not just during storms that public health is at risk. Some 160,000 North Carolinians live within a half-mile of a pig or poultry farm. Earlier this year, residents finally settled a long-standing complaint with DEQ that alleged the state’s general permitting process for swine farms disproportionately burdened communities of color. Many also fear that due to budget cuts, operations often aren’t inspected as frequently as some residents and environmental groups would like. There are also persistent concerns about groundwater pollution given the manure is still being stored in open-air, unlined pits. Farmers are working with the state DEQ to manage the situation, a statement on Wednesday by the Pork Council states. For some, this means lowering the lagoon levels by transferring liquids off site using tanker trucks or piping it to nearby lagoons that have more space. Farmers have taken “extraordinary steps” to protect their animals, the council says, including staying in the barns “for days without access to the outside world.” Meanwhile others can only access their barns by boat or helicopter. The storm, however, has so far killed 5,500 pigs and 3.4 million chickens. The total livestock deaths due to Hurricane Florence is double that of Hurricane Matthew two years ago. Until the ultimate impact of the storm is assessed, Hurricane Floyd in 1999 remains the most devastating to the state’s agriculture industry. This storm caused 55 waste ponds to flood and killed millions of farm animals, including 100,000 pigs and hogs.