This just gets worse..
An earthen dam surrounding a hog
lagoon was breached by flood waters in
Duplin County and in Sampson County, according to (NCSEQ)
Secretary Michael Regan. Hog or swine lagoons are human made pits or dugouts that store animal waste. The lagoons are meant to help reduce pollution and the the North Carolina Pork Council says
its "rare" for lagoons to overflow, but there are reports of at least seven lagoon "over tops," as they are also known, in Jones and Pender county, the department said. There are four reports from the Department of Environmental Quality of hog lagoons being inundated by nearby bodies of water as well in Jones County as of noon on Tuesday.
It's unclear how much waste is in the storm water, but the waste pits contain bacteria like e.coli and salmonella.
Exposure to feces can cause kidney problems, vomiting, fatigue,
stomach problems, skin infections and other problems.
Cape Fear Riverkeeper Kemp Burdette has been watching the storm in these areas with great concern. The area has already seen all-time record flood levels that are expected to increase even more. The farms that are built on flood planes, and there are dozens, will be in serious trouble he said and he expects more hog lagoons will breach before the storm is over. The dirt in the fields that were sprayed with manure before the storm will also mix with the storm water and Burdette said the state will likely see some of the barns flooded out, meaning that animals in those barns will likely die and will further contaminate the floodwater.
This is looking kind of like a worst case scenario situation," Burdette said
"To be really blunt and honest there are a lot of these farms upstream from homes that are flooded or will be flooded and it will wash through people's homes and cover their belongings. Recovering from a flood is difficult. How do you come back from this I don't know. It's pretty terrible."
Hamilton is also concerned about the potential health threat of coal ash in the flood waters. "Coal ash will end up in everyone's homes," near those areas. It "will end up in the air and as they clean up," she said.
Coal ash is industrial waster created by coal burning power plants. Coal ash contains the heavy metals including arsenic, lead and mercury which can can carry health risks.
