U.S. Water News Online
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The General Assembly neared final approval recently of a phase-out of waste lagoons used by hog farmers, replacing them with more environmentally friendly systems paid for in part by taxpayer-funded grants.
By a 108-0 vote, the House agreed to a Senate bill that would let a decade-old moratorium on new lagoons expire. Current lagoons, which collect swine waste until it is sprayed on fields, could continue to operate, but the regulatory bar would be set too high to allow any new ones to be built.
Hog farms that are ready to replace aging lagoons would have to convert to a waste management system that meets strict environmental standards. A cost-sharing grant program also would help the first farms to install the expensive new systems, hopefully driving down costs by increasing demand.
Both the House and Senate budget proposals include $2 million in annual funding for the grant program.
Environmental, farm, and pork industry groups support the measure. Rep. Carolyn Justice, R-Pender, who worked with the groups to negotiate a similar House bill, said she is looking forward to seeing how the technology works toward improving the environment.
"This is a good bill," said Rep. Dewey Hill, D-Columbus, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. "It was a lot of work put into this bill."
The measure now returns to the Senate, which is likely to accept the House changes. The bill ultimately would go to Gov. Mike Easley's desk to be signed into law.
North Carolina is second only to Iowa in hog farming, with $6.7 billion in annual sales, 46,000 jobs, and 10 million animals that produce 13 million pounds of manure and urine each day.
The lagoons have been an inexpensive way to deal with the waste, but the sewage has polluted waterways during floods. Neighbors are angered by the smell and worried about potential health hazards.
The bill also creates a pilot program in which utility companies can capture methane from existing lagoons and use it to generate electricity. The higher cost of that fuel could be passed along to ratepayers, but the amount of power generated and the price would be capped.
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