The N.C. Senate voted Tuesday (May 11) to approve Senate Bill 605, "NC Farm Act of 2021." Section 11 of the bill would require the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to create a general permit for biogas production at North Carolina’s industrial hog operations.
The bill now moves to the House.
A general permit is typically used where there are a large number of very similar projects with little environmental impact. Biogas facilities do not fit this classification as they vary in size, production volume, and proximity to communities and natural resources such as surface water. The current approach, which requires an individual permit for each facility, is more appropriate.
Biogas can worsen water pollution by concentrating nitrogen in liquid waste that is stored in pits and sprayed onto fields. Although biogas is sometimes touted as a solution for climate change, that's not true: The process uses methane, a potent greenhouse gas that can leak as it's transported in pipelines.
S 605 also would help entrench the antiquated lagoon-and-sprayfield approach to managing hog waste. North Carolina families, many of whom lived on their land before factory hog farms were built nearby, report suffering from foul odors, flies and animal waste spray - as some attested when the Senate Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources Committee met to consider the bill.
Statement by Cynthia Satterfield, Acting State Director of the NC Sierra Club:
“Lawmakers should try to help citizens who are suffering harms caused by neighboring property owners, rather than focusing exclusively on helping corporate agricultural interests. Hog waste biogas is not a climate solution nor does it address the concerns of community members about water and air pollution.”
“The Sierra Club calls on House leaders to stand up for communities, rather than disregarding the legitimate complaints of North Carolinians who have the misfortune of living near industrial hog farms.”