Month: October 2021

Pure Farms, Pure Water Update!

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Protecting quality of water and quality of life in Coastal North Carolina

💧Pure Farms, Pure Water Program Update💧
Pure Farms, Pure Waters
Pure Farms, Pure Waters
is a Waterkeeper Alliance campaign addressing pollution impacts from industrialized meat production. The campaign calls attention to the destructive pollution practices of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. The Pure Farms, Pure Waters campaign addresses the failure to regulate pollution from industrialized swine, poultry, and dairy facilities that is devastating rivers, lakes, and estuaries and lowering the quality of life in our communities. Coastal Carolina Riverwatch (CCRW) works on this program locally in the New River watershed. We work to monitor these facilities and educate our community about impacts to quality of water and quality of life. We support local farmers and sustainable food systems, and work with statewide partners to advocate for reform of industrialized meat production.
Monitoring
CAFOs contain unmanageable amounts of animal waste. Hog facilities store waste in large open air pits, known as “lagoons”. This waste is disposed of by spraying onto adjacent fields. This spraying can cause contaminated runoff, and extreme weather events can cause lagoons to fail. Poultry waste is stored in large litter piles, easily carried away by wind or rain. Due to transparency issues within the industry, little is known about where and how poultry waste is disposed of. Coastal Carolina Riverwatch conducts regular monitoring of CAFO facilities in the New River watershed. We do this through ground and aerial surveys, as well as water quality sampling.

Twice a month White Oak Waterkeeper, Rebecca Drohan, collects water samples from targeted sites on the New River. CCRW selects sample sites surrounding CAFOs, both upstream and downstream to reflect pollution impacts.

We test for E. coli, a fecal bacteria present in warm-blooded animal manure. E. coli is commonly present in our environment, however elevated levels can indicate contaminated runoff or waste management issues from nearby CAFOs. E. coli can impact public health, causing infection, gastrointestinal effects, and fever.

We run E. coli analysis at our in-house lab using an IDEXX system. This is EPA approved equipment to quantify E. coli.

We also submit water samples to State certified laboratories to identify nutrient contamination. Nutrients, like nitrogen and phosphorus, are also present in animal waste. Excessive nutrients in waterways can lead to Harmful Algae Blooms, resulting in fish kills and dangerous pathogens.

We use YSI equipment to monitor other parameters such as pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, and turbidity that can be indicative of water quality issues.
In photo above: White Oak Waterkeeper, Rebecca Drohan.

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Protecting quality of water and quality of life in Coastal North Carolina

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Protecting quality of water and quality of life in Coastal North Carolina

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Pure Farms, Pure Waters

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Protecting quality of water and quality of life in Coastal North Carolina

Pure Farms, Pure Waters

Coastal Carolina Riverwatch’s Pure Farms, Pure Waters campaign calls attention to the destructive pollution practices of industrial agriculture and factory farms, ensures compliance with environmental laws, and supports the traditional family farms that industrial practices endanger.

The Pure Farms, Pure Waters campaign addresses the failure to regulate pollution from industrialized swine, poultry, and dairy facilities that is devastating rivers, lakes, and estuaries and lowering quality of life in our communities.

Coastal Carolina Riverwatch (CCRW) works to educate the public about the impacts to quality of water and quality of life, supports communities and local farmers, and advocates for sustainable food systems.
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We work to help decision makers understand the need to strengthen and enforce existing rules on the discharge of animal waste into our waterways, seek to hold corporations that dictate facility operations accountable for waste management practices, promote best management policies that protect our waterways and support independent farmers, and take legal action against violators.

CAFO pollution has affected North Carolinians for decades. Each year, NC hogs produce 10 billion gallons of manure. This unmanageable amount of waste is contaminating our waterways and harming our communities. In our watershed, the New River is most heavily impacted. Coastal Carolina Riverwatch collects regular water samples surrounding these facilities to analyze for fecal bacteria. We also conduct watershed flyovers to look for pollution violations. By collecting this data, we can work with several statewide partners to advocate for the reform of these destructive industries”. -Rebecca Drohan, Waterkeeper, Coastal Carolina Riverwatch (in photo).

CCRW will be highlighting this program during the month of October and provide regular updates throughout the year.

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