Florence Drowns Over 3 Million Animals Trapped in Factory Farms, 13 Manure “Lagoons” Overflowing
The number of factory-farmed animals drowned in Hurricane Florence is already double the number in Hurricane Matthew and expected to go up. 13 manure lagoons are overflowing, with 55 more about to overflow into local rivers and groundwater.
So far Hurricane Florence has drowned 3.4 million chickens and turkeys and 5,500 pigs trapped in factory farms, according to the North Carolina Department of Agriculture.
The numbers are expected to mount this week as farmers return to their properties and are better able to assess their losses.
Thirteen pig manure lagoons are overflowing so far, and 55 more are at the brim and will overflow in the next 24 hours or so if water levels continue rising, according to the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality. The walls of four manure lagoons have suffered structural damage, allowing waste to flow out of the sides of the pits.
The N.C. Pork Council said some of the hogs drowned in flood waters, others perished from wind damaged barns.
Nearly 2 million of the dead chickens belonged to the third largest chicken producer in the country, Sanderson Farms, which produces 10 million chickens per week across the U.S.
In a press release, the company said 30 of its chicken suppliers are without power and unreachable. Each of the farms “houses” about 200,000 chickens, totaling more than 6 million birds that can’t be reached with chicken feed.
Upper Neuse Riverkeeper Matthew Starr warns that local drinking water supplies could be contaminated for months.
“Folks will want to get their wells tested,” he told ReturnToNow.net.
“Floodwaters contain raw animal waste, raw human waste, petrochemicals, and potentially coal-ash, so it’s just a really nasty mixture of pollutants.”
Duke researchers published a paper in the N.C. Medical Journal on Tuesday concluding that people who live near industrial hog farms have higher rates of infant mortality, kidney disease, tuberculosis, septicemia, and hospital admissions.
When these farms flood, the health risks are exacerbated, Duke University pathology and immunology professor H. Kim Lyerly told the Charlotte Observer.
“When you have a flood it’s a giant exposure to all the contents in the ground,” Lyerly said.
After Hurricane Matthew in 2016, one hog waste lagoon failed and 14 others were inundated. A 2017 assessment of Matthew’s effects on the state’s water quality found elevated levels of fecal coliform bacteria in waterways four months after the hurricane.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday it is monitoring hog lagoons to assess impacts to downstream drinking water.
Last week, the Lower Neuse Riverkeeper Katy Langly told ReturnToNow.net there are 62 industrial hog farms in the state’s 100-year floodplain, which are contributing to a “dead zone” off the coast of North Carolina that could soon rival the dead zone off the Gulf Coast.
Her organization Sound Rivers advocates the state buying hog farmers out of their debt to Smithfield in exchange for promising to never use their land for industrial animal production again.
I find it utterly appalling that these animals were just left to die. Doesn’t matter that they were destined for the table. Is this how little respect we have for the animals who feed and nourish us? Shame on these industrial ag owners. Just commodities and insurance will cover their financial loss. Despicable.
Agreed.
What are you going to do with and how are you going to transport 3,000,000 chickens out of the storms way? NC did all they could to transport animals out of the anticipated flood path. What I find more appalling is more than half of the human deaths in this storm could have been avoided if people didn’t intentionally drive through flooded roadways.
You took the words right out of my mouth…
No way possible to have saved them all..but they could have trailered out until they weren’t allowed back in. A drop off point would have been over an hour away.
I think their should be a plan for animals in a disaster..people first of course.
Personally Id never leave without my animals..but this situation is a way larger scale.
So sad
But this is exactly the problem though isn’t it. That phrase there, ‘people first of course’. Why is that?. When are we as a species going to realise that we have no more inherent importance in this world that the beasts we put to slaughter( after months of torture normally) the fish in the ocean the birds and butterflies of the air. It’s such an archaic arrogance of humans to continually suppose that the suffering of animals is no where near as important as the suffering of humans. How dare you make that judgement. If you think the few human deaths that resulted from people’s own stupidity are in someway more important than the deaths of hundreds of thousands of animals, then we have truly got a bigger problem on own hands than just the aftermath of a storm.
Terrible Just Terrible!!! ??? Nothing could be Done to Help These Animals !?
They all had plenty of time to get those animal’s moved or let out before the hurricane hit.. shame on you all, heartless idiots!
What about the animals they should have let them go or had an emergency’s back up plan like tia did with her dogs pit bulls and paroles get a back up plan for these poor animals
EXACTLY ‘n
Totally agree with you. Tia has over 200 dogs in her care. To date, I find no accounts of Villalobos Rescue Center ever losing a single dog due to flooding or other disastrous weather conditions.
I hope Americans think hard about factory farms and whether they are worth it. Imagine the suffering these poor animals went through. In addition, the environmental impact!! Wake up people. Farms arent mom and pop anymore!!!
The reason farms are no longer mom and pop is because they could not compete with the large companies and being paid nothing for their contributions to the food chain. The gov’t bought them out. Even if there were mom and pop farms, they could not have hauled all of their chickens, hogs, cattle, sheep, goats, etc. They also had not a clue the rain would be as bad as it has been. Not defending but just saying.
If they were mom and pop you still would have had a disaster but no were near the scale of this. I’d bet on it.
and incinerate them not and get them clean out of these pits out of these shelters where they drown before it becomes a Contagion
Most of these farms can let the animals out of the buildings. Pigs can swim, and so can chickens. This is cruel and inhumane to let these animals trapped in a building with no way to escape flood waters. Also they can feed themselves if they find their way to higher ground (especially chickens). Sheesh!
You need a proofreader! Good article though.
I think this is despicanle, since pigs and chickens and other farm animals deserve to live harmoniously and safely as loong as they are here on this earth! Paying no regard to them is not only inhumane but unjust and shame on all those who did NOTHING!
pipe down
Undeniably horrific! And not only for the animals that perished for lack of ethical farming practices. There will likely be long-standing damage to our potable and well water along with close proximity groundwater, streams and rivers.
They had days to prevent this and now prices of everything will go up.
How horrible for the animals and now for the people.
I was told if you were not a member of a approved animal rescue you would not be allowed in to rescue animals, even if you are a member they do not let volunteers rescue, it is the same reason why so many animals died during Katrina, the approved rescues don’t want to lòoks their gold mine, they send out a token amount to take pic of them rescuing animals put it online with a big red bottom saying donate here, if somebody just opened the doors they would have had at least a chance, these “approved ” rescues are in it for the money not the animals
That is true, Scott. I offered numerous times to take one of the dogs, that were rescued… Once the ‘agencies’ became involved, it was impossible. They tossed out volunteers, and grabbed, relocated and sold all the poor animals they could.
There shouldn’t be any industrial animal farms anywhere
my heart aches for the owners of all those animals and birds. It will seem an impossible task, cleaning up after the flood has receded.
Agree! Feeding 300 million ppl 365 days a year ain’t that easy!
The owners??? God give them manure-water to drink!
These people KNEW weeks in advance and even a week they had time to move them. Send out word on mass media!!!
It was probably cheaper for them to let them drown than move them. Also, sadly, dying early was probably a blessing for these miserable animals, locked in cages they can’t even turn around in.
Dying slowly was a blessing, what the heck is wrong with you..? Uggg..! Drowning and fighting for their lives ..
STOP FACTORY FARMING
All that animal waste scattered everywhere. That is what meat eaters cause to the environment.
What a disgrace. You couldnt let them loise to try and survive. Imagine being locked in a cage to be consumed by water.
Upset to know that those farmers had plenty of time to secure an transport those animals to safety. Who ever was managing those farms should be accountable for animal cruelty.
This is so wrong. Those poor animals must be experiencing absolute terror. How can some people sleep at night.
Folks will want to get THEIR Wells tested. Not there!!
Ok then,
All those slinging lagoon mud of outrage No more Bacon. No more chicken ever. Outrage = becoming Vegan Right Now!
Most of them are saying that they had time to get them out and not let them drown.
Jerks. How about here’s your reason to get rid ofnthe confinements. Period.
This is very sad that their lives were not considered before the Hurricane. They are life and the world needs to recognize this. God is watching and this is a terrible tragedy to Gods Beautiful Creatures
You know what else folks would want? To read grammatically correct sentences and words spelled correctly.
“Folks will want to get there wells tested,”
“The N.C. Pork Council said some of the hogs drowned in floor waters, others perished from wind damage barns.”
Really Sara? Does anyone even review your work?
Another “accident” that was waiting to happen. Smithfields has been fined multiple times in the past for these same lagoons overflowing. There are technologies that can help address the problem. Alternatively the barns should not be in low lying flood prone areas. At the moment these farms would rather pay the fines and move on. Fixing this issue is not rocket science. Environmental protection has to be a cost of doing business. In the long run we would all be better off.
“People might want to get *their* wells tested”. Seriously. Even in journalism???
Good. Maybe these farms will go out of business or start responsible farming and have humane treatment of their animals.
At least the poor animals are at peace now. Factory farms are evil and should be illegal. We are not a humane country. We’re terrible hypocrites
13 lagoons out of 3,300? That’s only .004%!!!! What about reporting all the millions of gallons of municipal wastewater being dumped? Talk about “unbiased “ reporting!!!
This certainly speaks loudly in favor of veganism!!!
Just horrible how these poor animals died and suffered! What’s worse? To die at a slaughterhouse in fear or to see water coming at you and drown?! Factory farms are horrible!! III don’t understand how you can promote factory farms!!!
Humanity at its finest! (I’m mocking “our humanity.”) Humanity is an actor and acts all manner of characters (like the “Holy” Pope, Trump the Terrible, and “Progressive” Speciesists), and each one is a lie or a contradiction–only the animal soul within is true.
The “property” status of animals should be challenged in the courts. Support the Nonhuman Rights Project, a professional group of lawyers and others challenging the courts on this issue.
Go vegan! Don’t support animal-based agriculture in all its forms. Industrial farming a/k/a factory farming is the traditional “family farm” of old on super-steroids. If we wonder where factory farming comes from – the mentality and brutality of it — think “traditional” farming.
Animal-based agriculture is a dying empire due to human overpopulation, competition over resources, environmental destruction, inherent animal abuse, suffering, death, diseases, and negative human health impacts (malnutrition, starvation, chronic disease, epidemics, etc).
Lower Neuse Riverkeeper Katy Langl’s organization Sound Rivers’s idea of using taxpayer money to bail NC hog farmers out of their debt to Smithfield in exchange for never using their land for industrial animal production again is a poor one. #1, it’s an illegitimate use of taxpayer money and sets a bad precedent. #2, simple economics tells you that it would create upward pressure on consumer prices. So it would be a double hit to the taxpayer. We need to solve the current problems by legitimate, sensible means and leave the rest to the market forces that have made our country the most prosperous in history and “the breadbasket of the world.”
This is outrageous and these companies should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I don’t care that these animals were being raised as food none of that matters to leave them like that and to die like that unconscionable!
Go vegan
If everyone would just stop eating the animals, this wouldn’t be happening.
Massive lawsuits should be filed from operators to owners and pitchers for resale.
These part of the tragedies are man made and man responsible.
Stop factory farming. Its gross and inhumane. Use this opportunity to try free range and update disposal practices.
So very, very wrong. As long as the farmers lose less by leaving the animals to die an ugly, traumatic, painful death, it will continue. (The farmers will claim losses to be reimbursed.)
Which is worse;manure waste or dead animals floating around in still water?
Just an FYI. These animals would have died just the same had they been on a family farm instead of being “trapped on a factory farm”. Your ridiculous rhetoric accomplished nothing.
Another point I would like to make is that we have a world to feed. How do you presume we do that? With kale? Hardly. These farms, both factory and family are necessary.
The deaths of these animals is sad. No arguing that. I feel for the way they died. Nobody wants to see that happen.
Yes! Totally agree.
Amcorco Corporation our biggest client eliminates…Odors, emitted mainly from manure but also from decaying feed and carcasses, are a major concern of the farm industry. E-Sorb is the solution. http://www.e-sorb.com How much do you want and When do you want it?
Folks, we might be FB friends on here and all – but if you have any clue what has really been happening during this storm you could see just how small a percentage this is. First, the magnitude of the flooding is biblical. In 2016, Hurricane Matthew surpassed the previous records by a foot or so, it far exceeded the 100-year regulatory flood and was called the 500-year storm. This area received up to 36-inches of rain… not backed up flood water.. R A I N… look at the door knob on the nearest door to you, 36-inches is just a hands width below that. Flood levels in this storm crushed ALL records by 5 to 7 FEET. The fact the ONLY 13 private farm lagoons are overflowing is an incredible example of how well prepared the farms were for this. Over 90% of municipal wastewater treatment plants – sewerage treatment plant – in these areas were UNDER WATER!!! The amounts of untreated human waste that this storm flushed is 1000’s of time beyond anything that left these farms!!! Educate yourselves, articles by these anti-farm groups are counting on your uniformed emotional responses.. Don’t be as ignorant as them…
Very interesting article.This will effect millions of people,farms, businesses throughout the Eastern and Southern USA.And,what is the answer??We certainly cannot control Mother Nature !!??
If it’s going to be reported as that big of a deal, which it is I’m sure, and thousands of people’s health are in jeopardy for four months down the line or longer, then why don’t the government agencies step in… I put the work on the already stressed out and in debt farmers? This is their Business, as in, it is their income, their source of life, no different than any other factory in a city. I hope they receive much compassion because as a rancher, my heart bleeds for them. It hurts in more ways than just the death of the animals.
I bet it had something to do with insurance. They were worth more dead then alive. These massive animal farms will be the death of us. We need to save our small private farms. God bless our local farmers and all the people effect my Florence.
This is why the keeping of animals totally confined and imprisoned is so appalling . These factory farmers should never be allowed to have this again and not be re-imbersed by the govern
ment
SICK!!! What Has TRUMP Done ABout This NOTHING!!!!! Boot Him Out In 2020 And Get Repubs Out In Midterms
Fuck Trump,useless POS that he is. Less regulation allows businesses to run roughshod over the poor SOB’s like those with contaminated wells.