*By Max Godnick* Florence may be over, but floodwaters from the hurricane are still wreaking havoc in North Carolina ー and not in just the usual ways. The state's hog-waste lagoons, some of which are larger than Olympic swimming pools, are now either overflowing or in real danger of being breached. That poses an immediate danger to the surrounding communities ー and the planet as a whole. "The potential for groundwater contamination is massive," said Zoë Schlanger, an environmental reporter at Quartz. The storm, which was eventually downgraded to a tropical depression, caused [at least 110](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/19/climate/florence-hog-farms.html) "reservoirs" to release their contents into the environment. North Carolina is the second-largest hog-farming state in the country, with close to 10 million pigs producing about 10 billion gallons of manure each year. In the counties where most of the state's pork production takes place, hogs outnumber humans, each one producing two to five times more waste than people do each day. Rain and floodwaters have rendered many of the affected facilities unreachable for the farmers eager to check on their livestock and assess the damage. Schlanger said some areas still expect more flooding, which could worsen the already-rampant contamination. "In certain places, it's going to get better. In certain places it's going to get worse," she said. While there's nothing that can be done to contain the waste that's already been released, Schlanger said officials can prepare for the future by rethinking the industry's infrastructure. After all, Schlanger said hog-waste has been a "daily health issue" for people in the state long before Florence. One of the most-vulnerable counties is Duplin, where most of the farms in the state are located. "They say even without the storm, the smell is horrendous," Schlanger said. It's one of North Carolina's poorest counties and has a predominately black and Latino community, which she said poses a "very specific environmental justice issue." But the problem isn't just with contamination ー there's also a significant economic impact. According to the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, over 3 million chickens and turkeys and 5,500 hogs drowned during Florenceー a significant loss in inventory for the thousands of farmers who rely on the animals for their livelihoods. "This will be devastating mostly for the small family farmers who are contracted by much larger companies," Schlanger said. "Those farmers often take on a lot of debt to run these operations." For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/pig-manure-lagoons-flood-after-florence).

Share:
More In Culture
MLB Cancels Games as Players, Owners Fail to End Lockout
It has now been two days since Major League Baseball moved to cancel opening day games for the upcoming season. The announcement from MLB commissioner Rob Manfred came during the league's ongoing work stoppage, just the ninth in MLB history. Owners voted unanimously on December 2, 2021 to enact a lockout after the collective bargaining agreement between the league and players expired. On March 1, 2022, following over a week of daily negotiations between the two sides, and three months of on and off negotiations, the league officially canceled the first two series of the regular season. Gabe Lacques, MLB reporter and baseball editor for USA Today Sports, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Pianity Raises $6.5 Million in Seed-Round Funding to Create the Next Generation of Music Platforms That Leverages NFTs
Music-focused NFT platform Pianity raising $6.5 million in a seed funding round. Pianity has developed a marketplace that allows musicians to sell their tracks as limited edition NFTs. Since its launch last year, the company says it has already sold 11,000 NFTs and artists have earned over $1.1 million from NFT sales. Kevin Primicerio, co-founder and CEO of Pianity, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
UNHCR Plans Ahead for 4 Million Refugees as 1 Million Already Flee Ukraine
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reported that an estimated one million people have fled from Ukraine since Russia invaded. Christopher Boian, senior communications officer at UNHCR, joined Cheddar News to report on the current refugee crisis and what the world might expect if conditions continue to worsen. "We have planning figures that forecast as many as four million people could be forced to flee Ukraine," he said. "But that very much depends on how the conflict underway in that country at the moment unfolds in the days and possibly weeks ahead."
Breaking Down the Future of the E-Boating Industry
Alexandre Mongeon, the CEO and co-founder of Vision Marine Technologies, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss the latest innovations in the e-boating industry, and how fully electric motors and boats will play a role in the fight against the climate crisis.
Load More