Factory farming of pigs results in the creation of manure lagoons which become filled with feces and urine, a lot of feces and urine. One lagoon captures 4.3 million gallons of feces, urine and flush water per year. Guess what? These lagoons stink. Plus, they fill up after a while. How are these lagoons emptied, you might ask. To empty a lagoon is simple: its foul-smelling sludge is sprayed on adjacent fields – creating a fine mist of feces, urine and water that blows onto the properties and homes of those near the lagoon. Look at this video for some idea of the nature and depth of the problem.
In North Carolina people have filed suit against the largest pork producer, Smithfield Foods, which has been bought by a Chinese company. They contend that their health and property values are being hurt by the
manure lagoons and that the Chinese owners are making the situation
worse by expanding pig farms to export more hams, bacon and loins to
China, which has become the largest importer of U.S. agriculture. A comment on the growth in exports:
I'm not sure why but the lawyers for Smithfield have asked a federal judge to forbid people who live near these
manure lagoons from mentioning the new Chinese owners – or the country
of China or pork exports to China – in court.
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