The North Carolina Supreme Court, in the case of local Chatham County health-based rules governing large hog farms, heard oral arguments on Wednesday, November 14, 2001.

In 1998, Chatham County adopted ordinances and health-based regulations for large industrial swine operations, but the Court of Appeals invalidated the ordinances and health-based rules when the Agribusiness Council and local hog growers challenged it.  The rules called for protective setbacks from neighboring property and surface waters, groundwater monitoring, and financial assurance for proper closure of the lagoons and wastewater management systems.

Chatham County appealed the case to the North Carolina Supreme Court after the Court of Appeals found that the new state laws regulating hog farms pre-empted local regulatory programs.  The Appeals Court findings were based on the presumption that the participation of local authorities in regulating hog farms is inconsistent with the General Assembly's regulations. The Supreme Court accepted Chatham County's appeal on discretionary review.

Environmental Defense along with the Southern Environmental Law Center, submitted an amicus brief in support of the county. We argued that the state legislature never intended to abolish local swine ordinances, many of which have been on the books for years.  We also highlighted the necessity for local regulation of swine pollution in areas where one environmental standard is unable to address local conditions. 

If the Supreme Court decides to uphold Chatham County's health-based rules, this could be a major step toward the protection public health for many North Carolina Citizens.

The Supreme Court is expected to make a decision early next year