RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The world’s largest pork producer says it plans to install covers over pig waste lagoons at most of its North Carolina hog farms.
WRAL-TV reports Smithfield Foods also says in a Thursday statement it would install new “low trajectory” tools to spread hog waste on nearby fields, replacing the sprinklers some neighbors complain spray feces into the wind.
Smithfield says it’ll install projects to cover lagoons and capture methane the waste emits in an effort to convert it into renewable biogas and cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Southern Environmental Law Center attorney Blakely Hildebrand says in a Friday statement the plan doesn’t solve pollution problems from the lagoons that affect poor, rural communities across eastern North Carolina and have triggered nuisance lawsuits. Hildebrand says Smithfiled could’ve invested in more responsible technology, especially amid intense storms.
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Information from: WRAL-TV, http://www.wral.com
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