Tommy Stevens: Pork industry regulated, transparent

“Knowledge is power,” wrote Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the June 23 Point of View “Turning the tide on CAFOS” highlighting a new map of North Carolina hog and poultry farms produced by the Waterkeeper Alliance.

So let me share some key facts that Kennedy failed to mention:

▪ The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality has long maintained a detailed map of state hog farms on its website. This map is not “unprecedented,” and these farms are not “deliberately hidden” from the public, as Kennedy claimed. Many of these farms are in rural farming communities where crops and animals have been grown for hundreds of years.

▪ North Carolina hog farms are subject to the toughest regulations in the nation, including a moratorium that has prevented any new farms or the expansion of existing farms for nearly 20 years. They are not “sprouting up like mushrooms.”

▪ The N.C. General Assembly passed a law in 1996 requiring all hog farms with 250-plus animals to obtain a state permit. The permits last five years and provide amply opportunity for public input.

▪ To protect the environment, these permits require extensive record keeping and the development of a detailed nutrient management plan for each farm. Violating any permit condition can result in fines or the loss of the permit. All violations and fines are public.

I spent 30 years at the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources and was working in Eastern North Carolina when this permitting process was put into place. Since then, I have seen firsthand the positive, proactive changes that resulted from strict permits and annual inspections.

The pork industry has been transparent and honest and should be proud of the valuable contributions it makes to our state.

The writer is retired from the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources where he was director of the N.C. Division of Water Quality. He is currently a consultant for the N.C. Pork Council.

This story was originally published July 4, 2016 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Tommy Stevens: Pork industry regulated, transparent."