Billions of Gallons of Animal Waste From Factory Farms Poses Health Risks in Wake of Hurricane Matthew

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Reports emerging Thursday of dead farm animals and breached manure pits highlight a health risk that will linger long after Hurricane Matthew‘s floodwaters recede: The threat of pollution from the billions of gallons of animal waste stored at North Carolina’s loosely regulated factory farms.

The immensity of the ongoing threat to human health and the environment across a coastal plain clustered with factory farms is demonstrated by the fact that just four counties in the severely flooded lower Cape Fear River basin are home to 36.5 million farm animals, producing more than 40 billion pounds of animal waste annually, according to research by the Center for Biological Diversity.

“Our hearts go out to the tens of thousands of North Carolinians whose lives have been turned upside down by the horrible flooding,” said Hannah Connor, a Center for Biological Diversity attorney specializing in harms caused by factory farming. “Sadly they’ve been put at additional long-term risk by the threat of pollution of their waterways and groundwater from billions of gallons of largely untreated animal waste at these industrial operations.”

https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/786215928174215168 takes a more realistic approach to reducing the harm these industrial operations have on animals and the environment, the risks are only going to escalate.”

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