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Environmental Defense
North Carolina Office
2500 Blue Ridge Road, Suite 330
Raleigh, North Carolina 27607
May 1998
Abstract
With House Bill 515, the 1997 North Carolina General Assembly directed the North Carolina Department of Agriculture (NCDA) to develop a plan to phase out the anaerobic lagoon and sprayfield system used by swine operations as follows:
(a) "The Department of Agriculture shall develop a plan to phase out the use of anaerobic lagoons and sprayfields as primary methods of disposing of animal waste at swine farms.
(b) In developing the plan under section (a) of this section, the Department of Agriculture shall
consider the feasibility of phasing in the use of solid waste management systems and aerobic wastewater management systems to treat and dispose of animal waste at swine farms, including,
without limitation, package treatment plants, closed-loop systems, and central waste disposal facilities that serve multiple swine farms." (Part XII, Section 12.4).
House Bill 515 reflects wide-spread acknowledgment that the current approach to managing and disposing swine manure does not adequately protect the environment and public health.
Environmental Defense has worked with other conservation organizations to develop this detailed
proposal for a plan to phase out anaerobic lagoons and sprayfields currently used to dispose high volumes of swine waste. The document identifies the measures that Environmental Defense
considers would result in realistic, effective and lasting solutions to the environmental problems
posed by intensive swine operations. Environmental Defense believes that the solution to addressing
the impacts from swine operations is through the development of performance-based criteria for
swine waste systems that are designed to achieve specific environmental and public health goals and standards.
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