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Environmental impact of pig farming

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((Under construction | notready=TRUE}} Lead Section Industrial pig farms also known as CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) pose numerous threats to environmental justice. CAFOs house thousands of swine and other animals and often the waste from those animals leaks/ spreads to surrounding neighborhoods, polluting air and water with toxic waste particles . Waste from these farms has the potential to carry pathogens, bacteria (often antibiotic resistant), and heavy metals that can be toxic when ingested . Dust, manure, and odors all have the potential to reach nearby homes and can settle on the body as well as on items throughout the home. Another form of pollution is from ground water seepage and waste spray, which is essentially the usage of a sprinkler to spray vats of pig waste into neighboring areas, in an attempt of CAFOs to avoid proper waste dumping. The contents in the spray and waste drift has been shown to cause mucosal irritation, respiratory ailment, increased stress, decreased quality of life, and higher blood pressure . People of color, minorities, and lower income communities often suffer the most adverse side effects from this pollution, as they do not have the political advantage to deter or fight large industrial CAFO operations. This creates an immense environmental injustice concern, especially considering these communities often do not benefit from the benefits of the products produced in these operations

Environmental Justice

The Midwest has traditionally been home to many hog CAFOs, but it became particularly populated with them between the mid 1980s and mid 1990s, especially located in the Black Belt region referring to an area where many slaves traditionally worked on plantations, and after emancipation many freed slaves stayed to work in that area as sharecroppers or as tenant farmers. To this day, many black residents in the Black Belt region face high levels of poverty, poor standards of housing and low quality of education, employment and health care. The density of CAFOs in these these traditionally low income and minority communities and the health implications that they have experienced as a result suggests a calls for a serious investigation into environmental injustice in the region. In the case of this region, it is plausible that the industry took the path of least resistance in situating the CAFOs in these areas, as the residents of this area do not have high political or economic power within their society, and also because the land is cheap. People who can afford to move away from these CAFOs do, but those that cannot are left to face the pollution that comes from these sites. In a study from 2000, Bob Edwards, a professor of sociology at East Carolina University found that larger minority populations were more concentrated with hog waste and had a higher density of hog populations as opposed to urbanized counties with a higher population of whites. Further, in communities that face higher rates of poverty and a lack of political advantage, there is little opportunity and resources to fight against the injustices being faces. These communities have few legal protections, which is what makes the field of Environmental Justice Studies so important as collecting and publishing data is a powerful tool in advocating and inciting remedies and policy changes.

This area has now come to be known as the Stroke Belt because the rate of death is so high from cerebrovascular diseases and high blood pressure, especially from this increased exposure to hydrogen sulfide. The hydrogen sulfide particles within the waste have also been found in research to increase difficulties breathing, cause sore throats, skin/ eye irritation, nausea, and even feelings of stress and anxiety.

Policy Implications

In the 70's, a series of laws called "Murphy's Laws" were passed in North Carolina to eliminate the sales tax on hog farm equipment and to prevent authorities from using authority to prevent and address odor issues. A boom in industry growth occurred following the passing of these laws as well as other similar bills, such that in the state of North Carolina, the population of swine is estimated at around 9-10 million. Each of those hogs produces as much as eight times the feces as a human, thus creating a crucial need for regulation and maintenance of that waste.

Regulation and law could not keep up with the rapid explosion of the hog farming and spread of CAFOs in the early 2000s and has thus left many people and environments exposed to severe harm and health impacts. Whats more, the agencies with jurisdiction over CAFOs are typically state run environmental or natural resource agencies as opposed to local health departments; this is advantageous for addressing environmental impacts but is highly disadvantageous for human health concerns. And although there are laws and regulations in place, such as the Swine Farm Environmental Performace Standards Act that prohibits new waste lagoons and mandates that new CAFOs must use technology that will prevent discharge of waste, these acts did not mandate that existing CAFOs clean up or regulate the pollutants within their lagoons.

Trump Administration Implications

Scott Pruitt, the new EPA secretary has undermined the past work of his predecessor Drew Edmonson. Pruitt indicates no action or intention to deal with this issue. The average nitrate levels in Oklahoma's ground water for example, have risen from 4.9 miligrams per liter to 9.1 miligrams per liter over the past 16 years. Removing those nitrates, which have been shown to cause severe health implications, especially on children and pregnant women, is costly in which most rural treatment facilities can't afford it. ODAFF report has been a leader in documenting the rise of nitrates. This highlights a repetitive violent cycle of the past swine pollution incidences in Kansas

Pruitt has a history of criticizing laws and regulations that are intended to protect natural resources from pollution and has already expressed a desire to reduce funding and authority of the the EPA, signaling that Pruitt may pull back on strategies meant to protect public health and the environment. In fact, Pruitt has referred to himself as a "leading advocate against the EPA's activist agenda," and has sued the EPA 13 times as Oklahoma's attorney general. The EPA's mission is to protect human health and the environment with regulations and national laws, yet the Trump administration intends to cut back on important legislation such as the Clean Power Plan that protects waterways and wetlands; a huge implication for communities with polluted water such as those located by CAFOs.

Alarmingly for those impacted by swine feces pollution, Pruitt has sued the EPA multiple times in an attempt to overturn limits on water and air pollution. In 2015, he sued over the Waters of the United States Rule that protections millions of acres of wetlands and streams, which at least a third of Americans rely on for drinking water.

One potential solution is to make ESTs (Environmentally Superior Technologies) economically feasible and desirable in the eyes of large corporations dominating the swine farming industry. These ESTs also need to meet superior environmental standards in order to be effective. Pruitt could play a large role in increasing funding for research and development of these ESTs as well as mandates and/or incentives for big companies to adopt these.

Sonny Perdue, the secretary of agriculture nominee, has conflicting business interests that could negatively impact the future of agricultural sustainability and environmental justice. Perdue owns and runs a family business venture including four farming-related companies. While running the U.S.D.A., he could be highly conflicted on decisions considering his farm assets. Further, in 2011, while serving as the governor of Georgia, 13 complaints were filed against him through the State Ethics Commission and on two occasions, the commission ruled that Perdue had indeed violated state ethics laws.

Waste in Water

Many of these CAFOS store the swine waste in giant vats often referred to as lagoons. These lagoons often contain pathogens such as salmonella, pharmaceuticals like antibiotics and antimicrobials, as well as nitrogen and phosphorous. This can lead to widespread pollution within the watershed that the CAFO is located within. The water from these lagoons leaches out into the soil and trickles down into the water table beneath. Unlike human sewage, which is always treated with chemical and mechanical filtration, the waste from these lagoons is untreated when it is released back to the environment. Spills are the most common contributor to pollution, but regardless of spills, toxic nutrients like nitrates and ammonia can seep into the water table that lies just below the surface, infecting the groundwater that nearby communities drink.

Lithuania has 24 operating pig-breeding complexes which contribute to environmental pollution, such as water waste. Some of the causes for the environmental problems are inadequate sewage treatment and developing technologies. Farms lack adequate wastewater treatment systems, which release untreated wastewater to release into the environment in the form of contamination.

Surface water surrounding the perimeters of pig farms is collected through rain sewage drains.

In 2014, Mark Devries used spy drones to expose pig farms in North Carolina that were spraying untreated fecal waste into the surrounding areas. This causes the waste to dissipate to far-off communities. Smithfield Foods, the company responsible for one such factory, claimed this was a tactic used to fertilize its fields. It is true that historically hog feces have been used as fertilizer and can be done safely and without runoff, but the magnitude was described by Dan Whittle, a former senior policy associate at the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources as a "mass imbalance", with far too great a magnitude of fecal matter being sprayed for the crops being generated to not have significant spill off into neighboring plots of land. Furthermore, many residents of the surrounding areas of such farms complained that the industrially concentrated fecal matter creates an unbearable oder of a different magnitude than typical farm manure. Charlotte Savage, a resident who lives on a property separated from the Smithfield farm by an 80-foot path of forest, reported seeing her husband Julian faint at one point due to the smell, and that there house was also once surrounded by a three foot deep puddle of fecal matter. This described this as not an uncommon occurrence in this community.

Communities located near CAFOs experience negative health and environmental effects due to several factors associated with industrial pig farming. One main issue that arises out of intensive animal agriculture is the waste that the huge amount of animals in a small space produce. In the pig farming industry, there are huge amounts of waste and farmers are pressed to find somewhere to put it and dispose of it. Pig waste is similar to human waste, filled with bacteria, and has high amounts of ammonia. Pig waste is often kept in huge pools near the farm and often, although illegal, sprayed into the air to get rid of it. The waste then reaches neighboring towns, resulting in civilians not being able to even leave their house in order to avoid pig waste filled air. People living in nearby towns have suffered a variety of adverse health effects including respiratory diseases, infections, increased risk of cancer, and other health risks. (sources to be added)

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