THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 1, 1995 TAG: 9509010472
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
Heavy rains last weekend caused a hog farm and several sewage plants to discharge thousands of gallons of untreated waste into tributaries of the Neuse River, officials said.
State environmental inspectors dispatched to a Johnston County farm found hog waste spilling into a creek at the rate of 40 gallons a minute. The overflow was stopped on Monday - the day it was discovered. State investigators have yet to decide whether to take enforcement action against the farm.
Seven towns - including Raleigh, Clayton and Garner - reported sewage overflows into tributaries Sunday and Monday, when several inches of rain fell, according to state officials.
The hog spill occurred upstream of where Smithfield draws its drinking water from the Neuse, but Don Reuter, a spokesman for the Division of Environmental Management, said town officials should not worry.
``Since the river was at flood stage, we wouldn't expect the overflow to have an impact,'' Reuter said.
Inspectors have seen no fish kills or obvious environmental effects from the spills.
``In all the cases, the heavy rains helped dilute the spills,'' Reuter said. ``It worked to our advantage, at least in that respect.''
According to state records, officials had inspected the farm in July and had warned the farm's owner, Bill Parrish, that the lagoon holding the hog waste was too full. A follow-up inspection of the 900-hog farm this month found the capacity just under the state's recommended level.
Investigators since June have confirmed seven other spills from hog lagoons, some of which involved millions of gallons of waste. Sewage overflows are a perennial problem for wastewater systems with underground pipes that are infiltrated during heavy storms.
KEYWORDS: WATER POLLUTION HOG FARM by CNB