THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 28, 1995 TAG: 9503280277
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: MAPLE HILL LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
A Pender County swine operation could lose one of its permits because of runoff from fields that are sprayed with leftover waste.
Twice since January residents have complained about hog waste floating in a ditch near the Murphy Honour Farms along N.C. 50. The farrow-to-feeder-pig operation, which grows 26,000 pigs on contract for Murphy Family Farms in Rose Hill, is the largest of its type in Pender County.
Murphy Honour Farms has been cited for allowing runoff of swine waste to escape into adjacent waters; for spraying effluent on saturated soil without adequate crop coverage; and for spraying effluent in the rain, the Daily News of Jacksonville reported.
The Wilmington office of the Division of Environmental Management has sent a letter to director Preston Howard, who will decide whether to issue the notice of the violation.
According to a memo sent to Howard's office, the large-scale operation has ``the potential to adversely affect water quality in a somewhat large magnitude.''
At the farm, the pig waste is washed into an anaerobic lagoon, where bacteria dissolve the germs, said Jim Bushardt, environmental engineer with DEM's Wilmington office.
The waste then is sprayed on fields as a fertilizer. The waste is not allowed in surface waters or on other lands, he said.
Workers at the Murphy Honour Farms appeared to be spraying with a heavily loaded irrigation gun in a poorly drained area, Bushardt said Monday.
Since receiving an initial complaint on Jan. 30, DEM officials have visited Murphy Honour Farms and the surrounding area six times.
The last visit was on March 16, according to DEM records. On Jan. 30 officials found animal waste in a tributary off Angola Creek about a quarter-mile downstream from the lagoon. Officials talked with contract grower Bob Honour, who did not explain how the waste got into the ditch, DEM records indicate.
A total of five water-quality samples were taken on Jan. 31. Two samples taken upstream along an area referred to as Dog Branch indicate concentrations of 1,007 colonies of fecal coliform and 740 colonies per 100 milliliters. Two samples taken about a quarter-mile downstream showed concentrations of 10,300 colonies in moving water and 14,600 in still water. The fifth sample, taken about a mile further downstream, showed concentrations of 14,100 colonies.
An acceptable level of fecal coliform is 200 colonies per 100 milliliters of water.
``The fecal coliform contamination in that stream was fairly high and there didn't appear to be any potable water wells that were very close to the edge of this stream, so I think the possibility of it being a health threat is somewhat minimal,'' Bushardt said.
Lois Britt, a spokeswoman for Murphy Family Farms, said she was unaware a complaint had been filed with the DEM and that Honour had not been notified.
Honour should know what's going on, Bushardt said.
``Certainly Mr. Honour recognizes what we were there for, what we saw and took our recommendations that were made on site at the time,'' Bushardt said. ``He was made aware he was going to receive a notice of violation. I just could not elaborate on what I thought the specifics of that notice of violation would be.''
If DEM revokes the permit, operators would have 60 days to bring the business back into compliance with best management practices, Bushardt said. He said he did not know if the farm would have to close while it tried to meet permit requirements.
If the operation is not brought back under compliance, owners could apply for an individual nondischarge permit which would bring the operation under regulations similar to those for wastewater treatment plants.
``He would have a much tighter permit,'' Bushardt said. by CNB