Hurricane Florence: North Carolina’s contaminated flood waters

by Kacie Cooper

Flooded rivers from Hurricane Florence’s record-breaking rains are continuing to strain North Carolina’s hog lagoons and coal ash dumps.

According to PBS, North Carolina environmental regulators say several open-air manure pits at hog farms have failed, spilling pollution. State officials were also monitoring the ongoing threat from the breach of a Duke Energy coal ash landfill.

In a recent article from New York Times, they said the result when a lagoon leaks can lead to environmental trouble. If the untreated waste enters rivers, algal blooms and mass fish die-offs can happen.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality listed 110 hog pits at noon Wednesday that have overflowed or remain in danger of doing so, including 21 that have already discharged material. That’s triple the number from Monday, though some may be related to updated reporting to and by the agency.

A study released online this week by Duke University concludes that communities near hog lagoons suffer higher infant mortality and death from many causes, although the study says that a direct link hasn’t yet been established.

Although North Carolina is over 1,700 km from Canada’s border, this kind of potential water contamination can seriously affect Canadians. The state exports products such as pork, wheat, poultry, soybeans, corn, tobacco, and other fresh produce, meat and dairy products.

According to the New York Times, the number of spills reported could increase as more farmers make their way back to their farms. But luckily, in a region that has struggled with too much rain, the rest of the week’s forecast is mostly sunny.