CAFO HISTORY

BASED ON PUBLICLY REPORTED EVENTS

1.               1962 -- In or about 1962, Wendell Murphy, Sr. opens a feed mill called Murphy Milling Company and also begins raising pigs.  By 1968, the Murphy business is so successful that it stops selling its milled grain to other hog farmers and instead uses the grain for its own operations. 

2.               1969 -- A cholera epidemic hits Murphy's hog farm. The U.S. Department of Agriculture requires Murphy's hogs to be killed and quarantines the farm.  To continue the business, Murphy contracts for others to raise his hogs. Murphy supplies food, pigs, and fences.  Murphy Milling changes its name to Murphy Farms, Inc.  Following a business model developed in the poultry industry in other States, Murphy Farms, Inc. starts to contract with local North Carolina farmers to raise the hogs, with Murphy Farms supplying the equipment, food and piglets.   

3.               1973 -- By the early 1970s, Wendell Murphy, Sr. is heavily involved in lobbying at the North Carolina General Assembly.  In 1973, the General Assembly passes the first “Hardison Amendment.” Named for State Senator Harold W. “Bull” Hardison (D, Lenoir County), the provision bars state regulations on water pollution that are more restrictive than federal regulations.  In 1975, the General Assembly passes a second Hardison Amendment which bars state regulations for air pollution that are more restrictive than federal regulations.

4.               1974 -- Murphy Family Farms starts to divide the raising of hogs into three stages, using separate farms for breeding, growing and finishing for market.  By 1979, Murphy Farms develops the production of hogs into separate sow and farrowing operation. 

5.               1982 -- In 1982-83, Wendell Murphy Sr. wins a seat in the North Carolina House of Representatives and as a Democrat represents the Tenth District until 1988.  At the time of his election, Duplin County, home of Murphy Family Farms, had 172,000 hogs.  Murphy is a member of the General Assembly, first in the House of Representatives serving three terms, then in the State Senate from 1988 until 1992-93 serving two terms.

6.               1986 -- Murphy Family Farms becomes the number one hog producer in the nation, and expands into the Midwest.   Murphy Farms reports gross revenues of more than $72 million.

7.               1986-87 -- State Senator Hardison sponsors or co-sponsors bills to eliminate the sales tax on hog houses and related equipment. The bills deprive the State of tax revenues in the millions from the pork industry.  In 1987, Representative Murphy announces that he will run for the State Senate seat held by Hardison, who plans to run for Lieutenant Governor.

8.               1988 -- Wendell Murphy Sr. is elected to the State Senate.  Mr. Murphy gives State Senator Hardison a $100,000 campaign contribution for his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor.   In 1988, the legal maximum for the primary election was $4,000. Mr. Murphy’s contribution was 25 times greater than the legal limit.  Mr. Murphy was never prosecuted.[1]

9.               1990 -- During the early 1990s, State Senator Murphy is instrumental in passing further protections including for the swine industry, reported to include legislation to strengthen the right-to-farm law, remove counties’ ability to zone out swine farms, and permit the NC Pork Producers Association to collect a levy to support lobbying activity.

10.           1991 -- From 1991-98, Mr. Murphy served on the board of directors of Smithfield Foods, Inc.   Smithfield is one of the nation’s largest vertically integrated pork producers.  Unlike the Murphy companies, Smithfield also owned the actual production plants that slaughtered and processed the hogs.  While Mr. Murphy aggressively pursued acquiring his own processing plant, he was not able to do so.

11.           Early 1990s -- By the early 1990s, Murphy had succeeded in filling southeastern North Carolina with millions of hogs and turning it into one of the largest hog producing States in the United States.  However, his model of hog farming had a crucial defect when it came to waste.  Mr. Murphy had adopted the model for his farms from poultry farms that placed thousands of animals in enclosed tightly packed growing operations known as CAFOs.  This design was not originally for pigs nor was it intended for use in densely populated areas where multiple farms would be populated with thousands of pigs near each other and near the affected homeowners. 

12.           1991 -- The North Carolina House passed a bill that would repeal the Hardison Amendments. However, before the bill reached the Senate floor, now-State-Senator Murphy attached an amendment to exempt animal feeding operations from any new regulations.  The bill in that form passed the Senate.  Also in 1991, State Senator Murphy co-sponsored a bill to prevent counties from placing zoning restrictions on hog farms. The bill was enacted.  When Mr. Murphy left the NC State Senate in 1993, he had voted for at least seven laws that released the hog industry from various taxes and regulations.  Meanwhile, by the 1990s the Murphy Farms business expanded to include subsidiaries in Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma and Illinois. 

13.           1991 – On May 8, 1991, a 10-acre feces and urine cesspool ruptured on Murphy's Magnolia No. 1 facility in Duplin County.  After the lagoon collapsed, tons of water went into Millers Creek.  According to news reports, Wendell Murphy, Sr. knew about the incident within hours and personally visited the site.  It took four days to find and patch the leak. But Murphy never notified the State about the spill.[2]

14.           1995 -- Mr. Murphy in a news article dated February 19, 1995 stated that there was “not one shred, not one piece of evidence anywhere in this nation that any groundwater is being contaminated by a hog lagoon.”[3]  Yet a study published in 1995, the same year as Mr. Murphy’s comments were reported, reviewed swine waste lagoon systems in the lower coastal plain of North Carolina and found evidence of seepage losses to the surficial aquifer.[4]  Other studies have also found contamination.[5]  Up to half of the existing lagoons in North Carolina may leak badly enough to contaminate groundwater, according to research by North Carolina State University.[6]

15.           1995 -- As of 1995, it was reported that a typical contract grower borrowed anywhere from $200,000 to $1 million to construct hog sheds.[7]  Murphy specified the CAFO design and equipment.  Murphy facilitated the financing for many growers.  While the grower carried the debt for a many-year loan term, under the form contracts, Murphy could pull its hogs out at any time for a variety of reasons.  The CAFOs were “single use” facilities designed for raising hogs and no other purpose.  Wendell Murphy, Sr. has described the situation with words to the effect of “once you pour the concrete, you are committed.”

16.           1995 – It was reported on February 24, 1995 that Mr. Murphy claimed that hog CAFOs increased property values:  “Wendell Murphy, founder and chairman of Murphy Family Farms, rejects claims that hog farms devalue nearby property. In fact, he says the opposite is true: ‘Property values have gone up, and I mean seriously gone up, as a result of this industry being here.’ …  ‘If somebody has property near us and they say their property is worth less and they have to leave -- tell us about it. We'll buy it.’”[8]  Those statements were inaccurate.  Numerous studies have shown that swine sites hurt property values.[9]  According to subsequent news reports, when one or more CAFO neighbors later sought to take Mr. Murphy up on his offer and to have him buy their properties, Mr. Murphy refused to do so.[10] 

17.           1995 -- From the early 1990s to present, NC hog production greatly expanded and CAFOs were placed near many local community members.  Production in North Carolina tripled between 1990 and 1995, growing from 5 million hogs produced in 1990 to 15 million in 1995.  

18.           1995 -- A 1995 study reviewed the effect of odors emanating from large-scale hog operations on neighbors.  The results indicated that persons living near the swine operations experienced odors and reported significantly more tension, depression, anger, fatigue, and confusion. Persons exposed to the odors also had more total mood disturbance.[11] 

19.           1996 -- July 12, 1996 brought Hurricane Bertha, a Category 2 storm that destroyed 5,000 homes, mostly in North Carolina.  In September 1996, Hurricane Fran, a Category 3 storm, killed 24 people and caused an estimated $2.3 billion worth of damage in North Carolina.  During the hurricanes, many of the hog lagoons flooded and millions of gallons of hog waste spilled onto neighboring lands. 

20.           1996 -- D.M. Farms of Rose Hill, L.L.C. (owned by Dell Murphy) and Murphy Farms, Inc. operated sow farms including the Magnolia 4, Melville 1 and 2, Dell, and Section 1 site 4 farms (collectively "Mag 4"). All sites used the lagoon and sprayfield system.  In November 1996, runoff flowed off two sprayfields from Mag 4 while the spray equipment was operating without supervision and ran into a tributary of Six Runs Creek.

21.           1996 -- Studies from 1996 and later reflected that swine CAFOs were disproportionately located in communities of color and poverty and thus among populations more susceptible to the exposures and more likely to experience detrimental health consequences.[12]

22.           1997 -- By 1997, Murphy Family Farms owned over six million hogs and had expanded into Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, and Illinois.

23.           1997 -- The Murphy family companies built a new luxury gated-community complex in Wallace, North Carolina in Duplin County called River Landing. The exclusive golf course community was overseen by Wendell Murphy, Sr.’s brother, Pete Murphy.  It was reported that one or more old Murphy hog farm sites were built over to facilitate the development.   Unlike most of the rest of Duplin County, there are no hog farms in River Landing.   Duplin and Sampson Counties are the highest-density hog counties in the U.S., yet there are no swine located at River Landing.  The development has forest buffers on one side and a large nature preserve forest on the other, and a gold course winding among the luxury homes.  River Landing is located at 110 River Village Place, Wallace, NC 28466, off of Interstate I-40.  It is believed that one or more executives with the Murphy companies have lived at River Landing.  

24.           1997 -- The North Carolina General Assembly passed the Clean Water Responsibility Act, including a two-year moratorium on new and expanded hog farms using the lagoon-and-spray method.  The law, which has been renewed, would allow more lagoon-and-sprayfield sites to be built if they could show that among other things, noxious odor would not pass onto neighbors’ properties.  It is believed that no more such new sites have been built.

25.           1997 -- In August of 1997, Smithfield was fined $12.6 million for violating the U.S. Clean Water Act.  This was reported to be the largest fine ever imposed under the Clean Water Act. Smithfield was found to be dumping hog waste into the Pagan River, a tributary flowing into the Chesapeake Bay.  The company's failure to install adequate pollution control equipment and properly treat waste water resulted in more than 5,000 violations of permit limits over five years.  These violations caused harm to the water quality of the Pagan River, the James River and the Chesapeake Bay. Further, the Courts found that the company had falsified documents and destroyed water quality records.[13]

26.           1997 – NC State Representative Cindy Watson from Duplin County co-sponsored legislation to phase out lagoons and to place a moratorium on new operations.  An organization with Murphy backing, “Farmers for Fairness,” began running ads accusing Representative Watson of being too tough on the industry.  While Farmers for Fairness insisted it was just an advocacy group, this was false, as the Election Board issued a formal order finding it to be a political committee subject to election laws.  However, Farmers for Fairness achieved its goal, as Rep. Watson lost in the Republican primary to Johnny Manning, a Murphy grower.[14]

27.           1997 -- CAFO construction began to threaten the Pinehurst golf course.  This led to a moratorium bill sponsored by North Carolina State House Representative Richard Morgan who stated that “he filed the bill because he was worried about industrial-style hog farms cropping up near golf courses in Moore County.”[15] 

28.           1997 -- Recognizing the unsustainable and injurious nature of the “lagoon and sprayfield” system, North Carolina banned further construction of CAFOs that use the design in 1997.  This ban was re-enacted in 2007.[16]    

29.           1997 -- A 1997 study of neighbors living within a two-mile radius of a 4,000 sow swine facility found that they reported higher rates of toxic or inflammatory respiratory effects.  The configuration of respiratory symptoms among neighbors was consistent with the patterns of respiratory health problems among swine confinement workers.[17]

30.           1997 -- A 1997 study assessing air quality around swine sites showed concentrations of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia that exceeded U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry recommendations.[18] 

31.           1997 -- In July 1997, the Mag 4 farms again spilled into a tributary of Six Runs Creek. Apparently an operator had incorrectly set the pump timer so that the spray equipment continued to pump after completion of spraying, causing ponding in the field.

32.           1998 -- In January 1998, citizens groups filed a complaint against Murphy businesses in the American Canoe Association case alleging that Murphy spilled swine urine and feces into North Carolina rivers.   In Spring 1999, after the American Canoe case started, the Mag 4 farm again spilled.  That time, a careless operator allowed his spraying equipment to run without supervision, causing a discharge into the creek.

33.           1998 -- A 1998 study showed how odor can have a deleterious health effect, including a physiological pathway between the olfactory lobe and the immune system which directly implicate odor as a health risk.[19]

34.           1998 -- Duplin County was reported as having 2.2 million hogs.

35.           1998 -- By 1998, there had been at least 46 spills from animal waste management systems.[20]  Many of the spills were from facilities owned by or growing hogs for either Murphy, or Brown’s of Carolina, another company acquired by Smithfield and Murphy-Brown.[21] 

36.           1999 -- In April 1999, a spill at Vestal Farms, owned by Murphy, dumped over a million gallons of water in Duplin County.  Murphy and the NC Pork Council claimed the spill was caused by vandals.  The State found zero evidence to back up Murphy’s claim.  In fact there was vegetation growing near the lagoon, tree roots weakened the wall and there were erosion issues.  Murphy had been warned to clear the trees. The State concluded that excessive seepage through the dike wall was the probable cause. Nearly 2 million gallons of waste spilled into a tributary of the Northeast Cape Fear River.  Murphy was fined $40,650.[22]    

37.           1999 -- In September 1999, Hurricane Floyd caused flooding in Eastern North Carolina.  Many hog farms spilled waste and dead pigs floated in nearby areas.  This hurricane and other rain events have caused flooding and contamination from hog facilities and highlighted the vulnerabilities in the State.  However in 2011, Wendell Murphy, Sr. stated the environmental damage caused by the hog facilities in the hurricane was “minimal.”[23]

38.           1999 -- A 1999 report listed that health effects of swine sites included “odors; waste; resulting flies; poor air quality; and the contamination of drinking water supplies.”[24]

39.           1999 -- In October 1999, again in spite of the pending Canoe Association lawsuit, Mag 4 spilled again when an operator incorrectly set the pump timer so that the spray gun continued to pump after the spraying reel was fully retracted.

40.           1999 -- On September 2, 1999, Murphy Farms, Inc., and Smithfield Foods, Inc., reached an agreement in principle for Smithfield Foods to acquire Murphy Farms and its affiliated entities.   On November 15, 1999, the Murphys entered into an Acquisition Agreement and Plan of Reorganization with Smithfield.  Murphy merged with Smithfield allowing it to assume control and ownership of most of the hogs and related infrastructure via its new Murphy-Brown subsidiary.  However, Murphy retained extensive involvement in the hog business through various business concerns and properties that Murphy did not include in the sale to Smithfield.  

41.           2000 -- On February 5, 2000, again in spite of a pending lawsuit, Mag 4 spilled again when one of the land technicians did not show up for work, forcing one man to supervise two spraying events several miles apart;  as a result, water containing stored hog urine and feces ponded on one of the sprayfields and spilled off toward the creek.  

42.           2000 -- Due to widespread concerns about pig farm waste and the odor coming from open pit lagoons, North Carolina commissioned a multi-year study of hog waste management known as the “Smithfield Agreement.”  The research was underwritten in part by Smithfield under an agreement with the North Carolina Attorney General's Office. 

43.           2000 -- A 2000 study found that hog sites are concentrated in southeast North Carolina in poor, rural and African-American communities. Populations living in close proximity are more susceptible to illness, stress, depression and physical injury.  The hogs create a large amount of waste, and dust particles carry animal skin cells, feces and bacteria, which cause respiratory problems.  The study reported headaches, runny nose, sore throat, coughing, diarrhea and burning eyes and decreased quality of life among residents living near CAFOs.[25]

44.           2000 -- A 2000 study on odors from swine sites found that people living nearby reported more tension, depression, anger, fatigue, confusion, and less vigor. 

45.           2000 -- The North Carolina Council of Churches noted that “Studies show that the contaminated water supplies and air emissions from hog operations adversely affect the health of those who live in the surrounding neighborhoods, causing respiratory problems, exposure to disease-causing bacteria, and psychological problems.”[26]

46.           2000 -- On January 28, 2000, Smithfield completed the acquisition of Murphy Farms, Inc. and its affiliated companies for 11.1 million shares of Smithfield common stock and the assumption of $203 million in debt, plus other liabilities.  Certain assets owned by the Murphy family businesses were excluded from the merger.  Murphy Farms, Inc. was merged with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Smithfield Foods.  As a result of the merger with Smithfield, the Murphys recognized approximately $76 million in capital gains relating to the businesses the Murphys did not sell.   For its final year ending January 3, 2000, Murphy Farms, Inc., had ordinary income totaling about $20 million, of which $7,012,245 was allocated to Wendell Murphy, Sr., $4,846,905 to his son Dell Murphy, and $1,611,988 to his brother.  The family engaged in a complicated transaction to try to avoid having to pay the taxes owed as a result of the acquisition and other developments, which was ruled illegal by the IRS.  

47.           2001 -- In 2001, a study traced antibiotic-resistant genes from hog farms into the local ground stream.[27]

48.           2002 – A study reported that hydrogen sulfide can cause neurological damage even at low levels.[28]

49.           2002 – A study documented high levels of antimicrobial compounds in hog lagoons and suggested that waste sprayed onto fields spreads residues into the water stream.[29]

50.           2002 – A paper described how CAFOs and their odor disrupt the quality of life for neighbors in rural communities.[30] 

51.           2002 -- By 2002, Smithfield owned and operated hog farms with about 700,000 sows in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Utah, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Missouri, Illinois, Mexico, Brazil and Poland. The company raised 12 million hogs in 2001, roughly 3.5 times the number of its nearest U.S. competitor. Smithfield’s hog farming subsidiary, Murphy-Brown, owned 700,000 U.S. sows plus an interest in another 40,000 in Mexico, Brazil, and Poland.  Smithfield owned or leased hog production facilities, primarily in North Carolina, Utah, and Virginia, with additional hog production in Colorado, South Carolina, Illinois, Texas and Oklahoma.

52.           2003 -- The American Public Health Association found that “CAFO manure wastes also include organic dust, molds, bacterial endotoxins and manure-generated gases of up to 400 separate volatile compounds, such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, many of which are known airway irritants, allergens or respiratory hazards.”[31]

53.           2003 – The Research Triangle Institute reported that the levels of toxins emitted by the swine sites are so high that studies have estimated hundreds of millions of dollars are being lost every year due to the health effects and premature deaths caused by the ammonia alone.[32]  Its 2003 report reviewed the health and environmental costs to North Carolina of the lagoon-and-sprayfield CAFOs.  The report found that “releases from swine operations can negatively affect environmental quality through various media (air, land, groundwater, and surface water). In the process, they can impair the functioning of natural Ecosystems.”  (p. 6-1).  Further, “the benefits assessment can translate changes in environmental releases and impacts into measures of human well-being, expressed in monetary terms.”  (p. 6-1).  “Odor emissions from hog farms are a continuing concern in North Carolina, particularly for residents living in close proximity to farms.”  (p. 6-3).  A study “using data on housing prices in nine counties in southeastern North Carolina … found that proximity to hog farms had a significantly negative impact on housing values and that these effects varied by the size of the operation.”  (p. 6-5).  The report also reviewed “the reductions in incidences of health outcomes such as premature mortality, chronic bronchitis, hospitalization for asthma, and acute illnesses such as lower respiratory symptoms” if improvements were made.  (p. 6-30).  The report estimated “reductions in premature deaths” of “32 per year for the 50 percent reduction scenario” i.e. if ammonia pollution alone was reduced by one-half.  The health cost of not reducing the ammonia was “$189 million per year.”  (p. 6-33).  The report noted how “there are a number of potential pathways through which humans can be exposed to pathogens originating from swine waste. Technologies that reduce releases of disease-transmitting vectors and airborne pathogens can therefore provide health benefits to exposed populations.”  (p. 6-39).[33]

54.           2004 -- A 2004 investigation found evidence of stress-mediated impacts on immune function in swine CAFO neighbors who had lower average concentration and secretion of salivary immunoglobulin A during periods of odor.[34]

55.           2005 -- Murphy-Brown installed special controls at the Mitchell Norris farm facility due to the odor, pollution and nuisance that it was causing.  The facility located in Bladen County has 6 hog sheds, 2 lagoons, holds 7344 hogs and has Permit Number AWS090039.  After complaints of fumes and odor, Murphy-Brown was forced to install controls including: For the hog houses, a system was installed to apply bacteria to floor surfaces.  The odor-eating bacteria was dispensed by spray-nozzle misters set to automatically go off once a day.  Other improvements were made in the sheds including steps to frequently flush out the holding pools under the slatted floors.  For the waste lagoons, a bioreactor treatment system was installed.  It generated bacteria used as a microbial additive to reduce odor.  These microbes were added to the lagoons at least once every 12 hours.  For the sprayfields, Murphy-Brown implemented an “Aerway” applicator system.  This was a near-to-surface or subsurface knifing-in or injection system that does not use pressurized spraying up in the air. Trees were planted as windbreaks, and site workers were trained and instructed on how to lower the odor.[35]

56.           2005 -- In 2005, Don Lloyd claimed to have invented a system to replace the lagoon and sprayfield system.  However it was not widely adopted.  Years later in an April 2014 news article, Tom Demmy, who worked with Don Lloyd, stated that the lagoon and sprayfield system had stayed around so long because Smithfield controlled the State:  “Smithfield [Foods] has real control over what’s going on here in North Carolina for years,” he said. “I’m saying it because it’s true. They paid off a lot of lobbyist and stuff like that to get the regulations slacked and get around the rules and laws and stuff. One of the Smithfield founders was even in the state legislature.  But that’s changing now.”     

57.           2005 -- 2004-05 studies found that children had more asthma symptoms with proximity to swine CAFOs, and found that there was potential for hog-to-human transmission of drug-resistant diseases including MSRA.[36]

58.           2005 -- After years of study under the Smithfield Agreement, a majority of the economic committee members found that new technology was feasible and well-justified by the deaths, illness and other harm caused by the existing system.  A minority opposed the finding.  The minority report was signed off on by:  Bart Ellis (of Smithfield Foods, Inc.), Dave Townsend and Dennis Dipietre (both of Premium Standard Farms, acquired by Smithfield in 2007), Bundy Lane (a Murphy-Brown contract grower who co-founded Frontline Farmers, a pork industry interest group), Richard Eason (President of Cape Fear Farm Credit that finances CAFOs for Murphy-Brown growers). 

59.           2005 -- As of 2005, Murphy-Brown touted itself as the largest hog producer in the world with approximately 835,000 sows in production worldwide.  Murphy-Brown described that it grew hogs in 13 states in the U.S. and had international operations in Mexico, Brazil, Poland and Romania. 

60.           2005 -- A 2005 study reviewed the health effects of residents near industrial hog farms in the Duplin/Sampson County area and found respiratory, sinus, and nausea problems, and increased psychological distress.[37] 

61.           2005 -- In 2005, Murphy-Brown spokesman Don Butler claimed that its Environmental Management System or “EMS” system fulfilled the “commitments” of “Preventing pollution of any kind.”[38]    

62.           2006 -- Studies surveyed children from schools in North Carolina and correlated high rates of wheezing to proximity to hogs.  The findings suggested that swine emissions and odor disproportionately affect a population of children and adults predisposed to asthma-related health outcomes and other illnesses.[39] Children attending middle schools within 3 miles of swine CAFOs and schools where staff reported odors in buildings had more wheezing.[40] 

63.           2006 – A study examined the levels of bacteria in the air plume upwind and downwind from a CAFO.  There was an increase in bacteria downwind decreasing with distance.  Staphylococcus aureus was found to account for 76% of the organisms recovered.  The study recommended buffering swine CAFOs from residential areas.[41]

64.           2006 -- A 2006 study found that rural areas are more likely to rely upon well water than others and contaminated groundwater put rural populations at higher risk of nitrate poisoning linked to birth defects, hyperthyroidism, diabetes and cancer.[42]

65.           2006 -- Researchers in North Carolina found that the closer children live to a CAFO, the greater the risk of asthma symptoms.[43] 

66.           2006 -- A National Air Emissions Monitoring Study (NAEMS) was established by agreement between the EPA and the CAFO companies including Smithfield to generate more scientific data about the air quality at CAFOs. 24 CAFOs, including two Murphy-Brown facilities, allowed monitoring. The EPA has periodically released results of the studies.  

67.           2006 -- A 2006 study measured date from a CAFO that housed up to 1,000 sows for reproduction purposes.  It found that bacterial concentrations with multiple antibiotic resistances or multidrug resistance were recovered inside and outside downwind of this facility at higher percentages than upwind.  “This could pose a potential human health effect for those who work within or live in close proximity to these facilities.”  “Those working at or inside the facility and those living in close proximity downwind of the facility could be at risk for adverse human health effects associated with exposure to large numbers of multidrug-resistant organisms.”[44] 

68.           2007 – The NC ban on building of new hog facilities using the lagoon and spray design is re-enacted.  Under this “moratorium,” in fact hog producers are free to build new facilities so long as among other things, the hog waste will not cause fumes and odor to cross onto neighboring land.  No new CAFOs have been built using the lagoon and sprayfield design, in an admission of their contaminating nature.[45]    

69.           2007 -- Duplin County was reported as having 2.8 million hogs by 2007.  It was also reported that approximately 8.5 million hogs were sold out of Duplin County in 2007. 

70.           2007 – A report found that “The encroachment of a large-scale livestock facility near homes is significantly disruptive of rural living.”[46] 

71.           2007 – A study found that contaminants find pathways into the environment from leaky lagoons, heavy rainfalls that cause overflow, and runoff from waste fields.. Individuals with weakened immune systems are at greater risk of adverse health effects close to hog farms. Infants, pregnant women, children, the elderly and those taking medications that suppress the immune system are more vulnerable to illness due to their weakened immunological state.[47]

72.           2007 – A study found that due to factors like low income, inadequate housing, low health status, and insufficient access to medical care, racial discrepancies compound the negative impacts that hog farms create.[48]

73.           2007 – A study noted how “Odour gives a problem when pig farms are located close to residential areas.”  It “concluded that there is a large potential to reduce environmental load within pig dense areas by nutritional means.”[49]  

74.           2007 – The NC Association of Local Health Directors agrees to a resolution regarding the need to address waste from swine operations.  See January 25,  2007 resolution describing how “open air lagoon and sprayfield systems used to handle waste from the ten million hogs produced in North Carolina continue to pollute North Carolina’s air and water” and “cleaner hog waste systems can dramatically reduce odors,” among other things.

75.           2008 – A study found that an emerging subtype of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) that was found in humans came from swine confinement pigs.[50] 

76.           2008 – A study investigated residents living within 1.5 miles of industrial swine operations in neighborhoods in eastern North Carolina.  The study indicated that odor from swine operations is commonly present in these communities and that the odors are related to objective environmental measurements and interruption of activities of daily life.[51]

77.           2008 -- A 2008 report found that “Recurrent strong odors, the degradation of water bodies, and increased populations of flies are among the problems caused by CAFOs that make it intolerable for neighbors and their guests to participate in normal outdoor recreational activities or normal social activities in and around their homes.”[52]  

78.           2008 -- In or about 2008, Murphy Brown installed a partial lagoon cover at Kenansville Farm #2539, Faison, Duplin County, with 10,500 swine.  According to a press release, “The company management wanted to respond to odor complaints from neighbors and had determined that the major source of plant odors was the onsite wastewater treatment plant.”   “The cover traps odorous gases and a blower directs the biogas to a boiler at the plant where it is used as fuel. During this process odors are destroyed and natural gas is replaced as fuel for the boiler. By improving treatment in the Anaerobic Digester, secondary treatment in the Aerated Lagoons will also generate fewer odors.”[53]  However, Murphy-Brown has not install lagoon covers at most other sites where its hogs are stored.

79.           2008 -- A 2008 study noted that for residents near CAFOs “hog odor limits several leisure time activities and social interactions which could have adverse public health consequences.” The study focused on nuisance in North Carolina, defined to include conduct that “is injurious to health, indecent, offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property.”  The study found that within 1.5 miles of CAFOs, “hog odor limits activities of daily living that participants either ‘enjoyed’ doing the most or expected to be able to perform inside and outside their homes. It restricts, for instance, activities like cookouts, barbequing, family reunions, socializing with neighbors, gardening, working outside, playing, drying laundry outside, opening doors and windows for fresh air and to conserve energy, use of well water, and growing vegetables. When we examine these restrictions in terms of types of activities and in the context of our area of study, which includes low-income rural communities with a high percentage of African Americans, the cumulative adverse impact goes beyond mere violation of property rights and has critical public health ramifications.”[54] 

80.           2008 – Grower contracts made public in a bankruptcy reflected that Murphy-Brown under its arrangements with contract growers, states that it solely owns all of the swine at all times.  The contract grower has no ownership interest in the swine.  Murphy-Brown requires the contract growers to follow all of the rules, policies and management practices established by Murphy-Brown.  Murphy-Brown determines how many of its pigs to keep at a facility and the contract grower is not authorized to relocate any pigs without Murphy-Brown’s approval. Murphy-Brown provides a) the feed, b) the drugs that are included in the feed, c) the drugs that are injected, mixed into the water or otherwise administered, d) periodic monitoring, consultation and visits by Murphy-Brown specialists and technicians, e) veterinary specialists, f) transport of the swine to and from the sites, and g) detailed management and control over aspects of running the site.  Murphy-Brown prohibits the growers from allowing any other livestock onto the site unless approved, and prohibits the grower from using any feed, medication, drugs, disinfectants, insecticides or other chemicals not approved by Murphy-Brown.  Murphy-Brown retained the right to take over the direct operation of the site should it determine that the contract grower breached the agreement. Murphy-Brown required that the facility meets the specifications set by Murphy-Brown.  There were no provisions in the written agreements between Murphy-Brown and the contract growers that a) required Murphy-Brown or the grower to confer with homeowners and neighbors residing near the swine site before delivering its hogs to the site or spraying, b) required Murphy-Brown to consider the surrounding density of individuals who resided near the site before delivering thousands of hogs to the site, or c) required Murphy-Brown to ensure that nearby neighbors are not afflicted by odor, flies or other sources of nuisance caused by the pigs at the site.

81.           2008-09 -- A global swine flu pandemic was caused by H1N1 influenza virus.  Research noted that one potential source of the outbreak was swine in CAFOs and that swine flu is more likely to persist in larger farms with higher pig densities.[55]  For background, in 1994, Smithfield established its Perote operations with the Mexican agrobusiness AMSA aka Agroindustrias Unidas de México S.A. de C.V.  In 1999, the company bought expanded its operations in Mexico. The first reports of swine flu came from Perote, Veracruz, home to the facility operated by Smithfield.  Local health officials announced a health alert and investigation. The Perote facility raised upwards of 950,000 hogs in 2008. According to news reports, the vector of the outbreak was the clouds of flies that come out of the hog barns, and the waste lagoons into which the facility spewed tons of excrement.

82.           2009 -- A 2009 study reported pig-specific MRSA strains among farmworkers.  Air- and waterborne CAFO emissions can be contaminated with antibiotic-resistant microbes such as MRSA.  In addition, zoonotic pathogens in hog waste, particularly bacterial agents, can travel downwind as spray aerosols and infect local populations.[56]  

83.           2009 – Public Court filings revealed that over the years Murphy has required some or all growers to accept terms under which if a grower fell into some lower percentage of all the growers on various metrics, such as the lowest 25%, Murphy could cancel the contract.  Obviously, among the total number of growers (100%) there will always be a 25% number who fall into that group.  These provisions incentivize the growers to work to maximize growth of the hogs at the expense of other considerations.[57]   Meanwhile, at all times Murphy-Brown still owns the hogs.[58] 

84.           2009 -- A 2009 study found that individuals living in African-American communities in southeastern North Carolina near hog farms reported high rates of stress and negative mood.[59]

85.           2010 -- A 2010 report noted how “CAFO odors can cause severe lifestyle changes for individuals in the surrounding communities and can alter many daily activities. When odors are severe, people may choose to keep their windows closed, even in high temperatures when there is no air conditioning. People also may choose to not let their children play outside and may even keep them home from school…. Odor can cause negative mood states, such as tension, depression, or anger….”  The study also noted the “consistent evidence suggesting that factory farms increase asthma in neighboring communities, as indicated by children having higher rates of asthma.”[60] Despite this and the other studies, in 2011, Wendell Murphy, Sr. indicated his belief that reports of school children contracting asthma from hog facilities were “false.”[61]

86.           2011 -- Murphy-Brown “Completed the installation in 2011 of next-generation technologies for manure management at Premium Standard Farms in Missouri. This will make it possible to reduce odor and reduce the potential for environmental impacts on the farms.”[62]

87.           2011 -- A study summarized how “Animal manure and sewage sludge contain pathogens, endotoxins, allergens, and toxicants that have the potential to harm health and cause disease. Studies of 16 eastern North Carolina communities located near industrial hog farms that apply swine waste to the land demonstrated human exposure to airborne pollutants and dose-response relationships between pollutant levels, symptoms of illness, and stress levels in humans. Other research has demonstrated the presence of pathogens and antibiotic-resistant bacteria in surface waters near industrial swine farms.”[63] 

88.           2011 -- In 2011, Wendell Murphy, Sr. described that “The typical livestock or poultry agreement is that the farmer or contract producer provide the facilities and labor, but in this case, to enhance the idea, to cause more people to come forward, we agreed to supply their materials... the fence and the posts, the feeders, everything. They (the growers) had no investment except their time."[64]  However in grower bankruptcy proceedings Murphy-Brown has also contended that it had no duty to keep pigs at the site if it wanted to remove them.[65]  

89.           2012 – A study sought “To determine whether neighbors around manure lagoons and massive hog confinement buildings who complained of offensive odors and symptoms had impaired brain and lung functions.”  The study found that “Exposed subjects mean forced vital capacity and expiratory volume in 1 sec were reduced significantly compared to local and regional controls.”  Further, “Near neighbors of hog enclosures and manure lagoon gases had impaired neurobehavioral functions and pulmonary functions and these effects extended to nearby people thought to be controls. Hydrogen sulfide must be abated because people living near lagoons cannot avoid rotten egg gas.”[66] 

90.           2012 – Murphy-Brown had added special controls at sites in other States such as Missouri to “reduce the level of odor produced by the farms.”[67] However there is no information that it has installed similar upgrades at sites in North Carolina.

91.           2013 -- Smithfield Foods, Inc. was sold to a Chinese-backed multinational corporation, Shuanghui, in late 2013 in a transaction estimated to have a value in excess of $7 billion.  Murphy-Brown is now part of the pork processing conglomerate owned by WH Group, formerly Shuanghui.  Shuanghui Group is a meat processing company headquartered in Luohe, Henan, China and the largest meat producer in China.  The English-language versions of Shuanghui websites portray the company as privately owned and politically neutral.  However according to testimony before the U.S. Senate in July 2013 and translations of the Chinese-language versions of Shuanghui website pages, it is in fact a Chinese state-controlled company founded by Chairman Wan Long, a member of the Communist Party and a former soldier in the People’s Liberation Army and political official.[68]  Some community members are concerned that with Shuanghui’s buying of Smithfield, there may be pressure to increase pig production, exports to China and increase of the nuisance.

92.           2013 – A study found that “Like noise and other repetitive environmental stressors, malodors may be associated with acute blood pressure increases that could contribute to development of chronic hypertension.”[69]

93.           2013 – An article noted that “Swine finishing operations near residential areas can create public nuisance concerns due to the annoyance potential of odor emitted from the houses.”  It also noted that “The diet of the animals, especially the protein content, seems to be effective in reducing odor release.”[70] 

94.           2013 – A report described how “On the coastal plain of eastern North Carolina, families in certain rural communities daily must deal with the piercing, acrid odor of hog manure—reminiscent of rotten eggs and ammonia—wafting from nearby industrial hog farms. On bad days, the odor invades homes, and people are often forced to cover their mouths and noses when stepping outside. Sometimes, residents say, a fine mist of manure sprinkles nearby homes, cars, and even laundry left on the line to dry.” It also described how hog waste “can contain pathogens, heavy metals, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and the spray can reach nearby homes and drinking water sources. The odor plume, which often pervades nearby communities, contains respiratory and eye irritants including hydrogen sulfide and ammonia.”[71] 

95.           2013 -- A DENR spreadsheet listing swine farms by integrator dated June 26, 2013 shows that out of 2209 swine operations, a total of 1433 (about 65%) listed Murphy-Brown as the integrator. 

96.           2013 -- A study of the effect of hog CAFOs in Sampson County on property values found that proximity to a lagoon results in a $10,382 decline per lagoon in the value of residential parcels with homes.  Proximity to hog waste lagoons results in an assessed property value loss of anywhere from $5,443-$15,563, depending on the type of residential parcel.[72] 

97.           2013 – The Mag 4 farm complex announces conversion to biogas generation.[73] 

98.           2014 -- A 2014 study measured emissions of gases including ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, volatile organic compounds and odor from a pig nursery. “The gas and odor concentrations measured in the ventilation air from the pig rooms indicate an acute need for using gas and odor mitigation technologies. Adopting diet control and biofiltration practices simultaneously could be the best option for mitigating gas and odor emissions from pig barns.”[74] 

99.           2014 -- A 2014 study found a significant association between individuals residing in communities with pigs and live-stock associated MRSA, and found pig-associated MRSA even in people without direct contact with the swine.[75] 

100.       2014 -- An April 2014 study reviewed available data regarding ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) emissions from swine production facilities in North America.  The study included a review of information from the EPA National Air Emissions Monitoring Study (NAEMS).  The study reported emissions both of NH3 and H2S and found that “The size of swine farm that may trigger the need to report NH3 emissions under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) is 3,410 pigs on the basis of the median NH3 emission rate (4.86 kg/yr per pig), but the threshold can be as low as 992 pigs on the basis of the 90th-percentile emission rates (16.71 kg/yr per pig).” Further, the NH3 emission rates increased with increasing air temperature. The H2S emission rates were influenced by the size of the operation.  The study found that median emissions rates from swine houses were 2.78 and 0.09kg per pig and year for ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, respectively.  Median emissions rates from swine storage facilities were 2.08 and 0.20kg per pig and year for ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, respectively.[76]

101.       2014 -- Smithfield reported record profits for the first quarter of 2014, sales for the first quarter of 2014 of $3.4 billion and net income of $105.3 million. 

102.       2014 – Under pressure from odor complaints, as of 2014, Murphy-Brown had installed numerous lagoon covers, barn floor scrapers and other odor reduction measures in Missouri.  In Missouri, Premium Standard Farms, eventually acquired by Murphy-Brown, reduced by more than 90 percent the use of traveling irrigation sprayers, implemented lagoon covers, used Advanced Nitrification/De-nitrification technology and digesters, and installed barn scrapers. They replaced the lagoon flush system with automated scrapers in tunnel-ventilated swine barns to control odor and emissions.  By 2012, the company had installed Next Generation Technologies, including scrapers in 366 barns.  The company invested $49 million or more on advanced nitrogen treatment systems, lagoon covers, and land application technologies.[77]  However, Murphy-Brown has declined to make similar across-the-board facility upgrades in NC.

References

[1] Dan Kane, “On NC state sales tax, some get a special deal,” Raleigh News & Observer, April 29, 2013.

[2] Warrick and Stith, “New studies show that lagoons are leaking,” Raleigh News & Observer, Feb. 19, 1995.

[3] Id.

[4] Huffman et al., “Estimated seepage losses from established swine waste lagoons in the lower coastal plain of North Carolina,” Transact Am Soc Agric Eng 38:449-53 (1995) (elevated ammonium and estimates of total nitrogen export indicated moderate to severe seepage losses at many sites).

[5] Ciravolo et al., "Pollutant Movement to Shallow Groundwater Tables From Anaerobic Swine Waste Lagoons." Journal of Environmental Quality 8, no. 1: 126-30 (1979)  (groundwater contamination from lagoon seepage); Ritter et al., “Impact of animal lagoons on ground-water quality,” Biological Wastes 34(1): 39-54 (1990) (“A swine waste lagoon …was having a severe impact on ground-water quality.”); Hribar, “Understanding Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations and Their Impact on Communities,” National Association of Local Boards of Health (2010), p. 3 (“Groundwater can be contaminated by CAFOs through runoff from land application of manure, leaching from manure that has been improperly spread on land, or through leaks or breaks in storage or containment units.”); Huffman, “Seepage Evaluation of Older Swine Lagoons in North Carolina,” Transactions of the ASAE, Vol. 47(5): 1507-12 at p. 1511 (2004) (“On some sites, high concentrations were observed across much of the downgradient area, giving evidence of a broad plume.”); Dukes et al., “Impact of Agriculture on Water Quality in the North Carolina Middle Coastal Plain.” J. Irrig. Drain Eng., 132(3), 250-62 (2006); Burkholder et al., “Impacts of Waste from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations on Water Quality,” Environmental Health Perspectives, 115(2): 308-12 (2007) (accord).

[6] Warrick and Stith, “New Studies Show Lagoons Are Leaking,” Raleigh News & Observer, March 19, 1995.

[7] Warrick and Stith, “New studies show that lagoons are leaking,” Raleigh News & Observer, Feb. 19, 1995.

[8] Warrick and Stith, “Corporate takeover,” Raleigh News & Observer, Feb. 21, 1995.

[9] Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, “Impact of Industrial Farm Animal Production on Rural Communities” (2008) (“A number of studies have found that hog CAFOs depress the value of homes that happen to be located near them …. Real estate values decline for those residences closest to CAFOs.”).

[10] Wilmington Morning Star, “Murphy Farms Refuses to Buy Neighbor’s Land,” April 8, 1995 (reporting on how Roger Pickett asked Murphy to purchase his home).

[11] Schiffman et al., “The effect of environmental odors emanating from commercial swine operations on the mood of nearby residents,” Brain Res Bull. 37(4):369-75 (1995).

[12] Wing et al., “Community based collaboration for environmental justice: south-east Halifax environmental reawakening,” Environ Urban 8(2):129-40 (1996); Edwards et al., “Environmental justice, swine production and farm loss in North Carolina,” Sociol Spectr 20(3):263-90 (2000); Wing et al., “Environmental injustice in North Carolina’s hog industry,” Environ Health Perspect 108:225-31 (2000); Wing et al., “Intensive livestock operations, health, and quality of live among eastern North Carolina residents,” Environmental Health Perspectives, 108:233-38 (2000); Wing et al., “The potential impact of flooding on confined animal feeding operations in eastern North Carolina,” Environ Health Perspect 110:387-91 (2002); Mirabelli et al., “Race, Poverty, and Potential Exposure of Middle-School Students to Air Emissions from Confined Swine Feeding Operations,” Environmental Health Perspectives, 114(4): 591-96 (April 2006).

[13] See United States v. Smithfield Foods, Inc., 191 F.3d 516 (4th Cir. 1999). 

[14] WRAL, “State Board: Farmers For Fairness is a Political Action Committee,” April 3, 1998; Dennis Patterson, Associated Press, “Watson asks state elections board to investigate Farmers for Fairness,” January 29, 1998; UNC-TV, Wendell Murphy Timeline.

[15] A.P., “Moratorium on hog farms gets approval,” Wilmington Morning Star, Aug. 27, 1997; A.P., “You’ll shut us down, claim hog farmers,” Wilmington Morning Star, Feb. 27, 1997.  Rep. Morgan stated that his aim was to “draw a distinction between farming and the mass production of swine.”  Id. 

[16]See S.L. 1997-458 (two-year moratorium); S.L. 2007-523 (made the ban permanent).

[17] Thu, et al., “A Control Study of the Physical and Mental Health of Residents Living Near a Large-Scale Swine Operation,” Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health 3(1): 13-26 (1997) (symptoms included sputum, cough, shortness of breath, tight chest, wheezing, nausea, dizziness, weakness, fainting, headaches, plugged ears, runny nose, scratchy throat and burning eyes).

[18] Reynolds et al., “Air quality assessments in the vicinity of swine production facilities,” J Agromed 4:37-45 (1997).

[19] Schiffman et al., “Mood Changes Experienced by Persons Living Near Commercial Swine Operations,” in Pigs, Profits, and Rural Communities, Thu and Durrenberger, eds., State U. of New York Press (1998).

[20] Mike McLaughlin and Katherine Dunn, “Agriculture:  Still King of the Eastern North Carolina Economy,” North Carolina Insight, p. 44 (Feb. 2006).

[21] “August 1995: Two million gallons of liquid hog waste from a Brown’s Inc. lagoon in New

Hanover County spilled into a tributary of the Cape Fear River in North Carolina…. 1996: One million gallons of liquid hog waste from a Smithfield hog factory spilled into the Trent River in Jones County, North Carolina. Also, at a Brown’s of Carolina facility in Bladen County, North Carolina, inspectors found ponding of waste on fields, indicating that wastewater had been overapplied, and that waste had been applied when the ground was wet or frozen…. 1997: Smith Farms, a finishing operation for Brown’s of Carolina, flooded over an acre of wetlands bordering the New River with hog waste from its Onslow County, North Carolina operation… July 1997: North Carolina inspectors found that a lagoon or lagoons had been overfilled at a Brown’s of Carolina facility in Bladen County … Also in July 1997, state inspectors found that areas around the dikes at the facility might erode if improvements were not made…. March 1998: Inspectors from the state of North Carolina found trash floating in the lagoons and inadequate lagoon storage capacity at a Brown’s of Carolina facility in Jones County.”  Robbin Marks, “Cesspools of Shame:  How Factory Farm Lagoons and Sprayfields Threaten Environmental and Public Health,” Natural Resources Defense Council and the Clean Water Network, July 2001, pp. 7-8.

[22] UNC-TV, Wendell Murphy Timeline; Brian Feagans, “Investigators looking for cause of huge hog waste spill,” Wilmington Morning Star, April 21, 1999; Brian Feagans, “SBI drops spill probe, finds no vandalism,” Wilmington Morning Star, April 22, 1999; DENR Press Release, “Murphy Family Farms fined $40,650 for Duplin County hog lagoon spill,” Aug. 19, 1999; Wilmington Morning Star, “Murphy insists vandalism is to blame for lagoon spill,” May 22, 1999.

[23] UNC-TV broadcast with interview of Wendell Murphy dated Nov. 20, 2011.

[24] Okun, “Human Health Effects Associated with the Hog Industry,” UNC-Chapel Hill (Jan. 1999), p. 2.  Neighbors expressed concerns with “increased truck traffic especially at night, dead animals sitting in the hot sun awaiting pick-up and then exploding when dumped in the hauling truck, and resulting animal waste on the road from alive and dead hogs.”  Id. p. 2.  “The odors are generated by a mix of fresh and decomposing feces, urine, feed, the animals themselves, and dead hog carcasses.”  Id. p. 4. “Neighbors of hog intensive operations and reacted to the noxious and unaesthetic air quality generated by the ammonia and hydrogen sulfide associated with the waste.” Id. p. 6. 

[25] Wing et al., “Intensive livestock operations, health, and quality of live among eastern North Carolina residents,” Environmental Health Perspectives, 108: 233-38 (2000).

[26] Schiffman et al., “Potential health effects of odor from animal operations, wastewater treatment, and recycling of byproducts,” Journal of Agromedicine, 7(1): 7-81 (2000); Policy Statement Adopted by the House of Delegates, North Carolina Council of Churches (Nov. 9, 2000).

[27] Chee-Sanford et al., “Occurrence and Diversity of Tetracycline Resistance Genes in Lagoons and Groundwater Underlying Two Swine Production Facilities,” Applied Environmental Microbiology, 67(4): 1494-1502 (April 2001).

[28] Hirsch, “Hydrogen sulfide exposure without loss of consciousness: chronic effects in four cases,” Toxicology and Industrial Health 2002; 18: 51-61 (abstract: “Our data indicate that exposures to even relatively low concentrations of H2S are hazardous.”).

[29] Campagnolo et al., “Antimicrobial residues in animal waste and water resources proximal to large-scale swine and poultry feeding operations,” Sci Total Environ. 299(1-3):89-95 (Nov. 2002).  Likewise a 2006 study identified Tetracycline-resistant genes in a hog farm, its manure lagoon, and in groundwater 250 meters downstream. Chee-Sanford, “Distribution of tetracycline- and tylosin-resistance genes in bacteria from soils exposed to swine effluent” (2006).

[30] Thu, “Public Health concerns for neighbors of large-scale swine production,” J Agric Saf Health 8(2):175-84 (2002).  

[31] American Public Health Association, “Precautionary Moratorium on New Concentrated Animal Feed Operations” (Nov. 18, 2003).

[32] RTI International, “Benefits of Adopting Environmentally Superior Swine Waste Management Technologies in North Carolina: An Environmental and Economic Assessment,” Nov. 2003.  

[33] RTI International, “Benefits of Adopting Environmentally Superior Swine Waste Management Technologies in North Carolina: An Environmental and Economic Assessment,” Nov. 2003.  

[34] Avery et al., “Odor from industrial hog operations and mucosal immune function in neighbors,” Arch Environ Health 59(2):101-08 (2004).

[35] See NC DENR public records.

[36] Chrischilles et al., “Asthma prevalence and morbidity among rural Iowa schoolchildren,” J Allergy Clin Immunol 113(1):66-71 (2004); Merchant et al., “Asthma and farm exposures in a cohort of rural Iowa children,” Environ Health Perspect 113(3):350-56 (2005); Voss et al., “Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Pig Farming,” Emerging Infectious Diseases, Vol. 11, No. 12 (Dec. 2005).

[37] Bullers, “Environmental Stressors, Perceived Control, and Health: The Case of Residents Near Large-Scale Hog Farms in Eastern North Carolina,” Human Ecology, Vol. 33, No. 1 (Feb. 2005).

[38] Don Butler, Director of Government Relations and Public Affairs, Murphy-Brown LLC, “The use of comprehensive management systems to effectively manage environmental and animal welfare within today’s swine industry,” 2005.

[39] Mirabelli et al., “Race, Poverty, and Potential Exposure of Middle-School Students to Air Emissions from Confined Swine Feeding Operations,” Environmental Health Perspectives, 114(4): 591-96 (April 2006).

[40] Mirabelli et al., “Asthma symptoms among adolescents who attend public schools that are located near confined swine feeding operations,” Pediatrics 118(1):e66-e75 (2006).

[41] Green et al., “Bacterial plume emanating from the air surrounding swine confinement operations, J Occup Environ Hyg. 3(1):9-15 (2006).  See also Green et al., “Endocarditis due to meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus originating from pigs,” Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd 150: 2442-47 (2006); de Neeling AJ et al., “High prevalence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus in pigs,” Vet Microbiol 122: 366-72 (2007).

[42] Gilchrist, “The Potential Role of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations in Infectious Disease Epidemics and Antibiotic Resistance,” Environmental Health Perspectives, 115(2): 313-16 (2006).

[43] Barrett, “Hogging the air: CAFO emissions reach into schools,” Environmental Health Perspectives 114(4), (2006).  Likewise a 2006 study reported reviewing Iowa elementary schools found that children near the CAFO had a significantly increased prevalence of asthma.  Sigurdarson et al., “School proximity to concentrated animal feeding operations and prevalence of asthma in students,” Chest 129:1486-91 (2006).

[44] Gibbs et al., “Isolation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria from the air plume downwind of a swine confined or concentrated animal feeding operation,” Environ Health Perspect 114: 1032-37 (2006), see p. 1036.

[45]See S.L. 2007-523 ( made the ban permanent); N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-215.10I (new swine sites must among other things eliminate “atmospheric emission of ammonia,” “the emission of odor that is detectable beyond the boundaries of the parcel or tract of land on which the swine farm is located,” “the release of disease-transmitting vectors and airborne pathogens,” and “nutrient and heavy metal contamination of soil and groundwater.

[46] Donham et al., “Community Health and Socioeconomic Issues Surrounding Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations,” Environmental Health Perspectives, 115(2): 317-20, at 318 (2007).

[47] Burkholder et al., “Impacts of Waste from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations on Water Quality,” Environmental Health Perspectives, 115(2): 308-12 (2007).

[48] Donham, “Community Health and Socioeconomic Issues Surrounding Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations,” Environmental Health Perspectives, 115(2): 317-20 (2007).

[49] Aarnink, et al., “Nutrition, key factor to reduce environmental load from pig production,” Livestock Science 109, 194e203 (2007).  The study described that “dietary composition and odour production and emission have a cause-and-effect relationship and that altering the sources and levels of crude protein and fermentable carbohydrates can be a promising approach to reduce odour nuisance.”

[50] Lewis et al., “Pigs as Source of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus CC398 Infections in Humans, Denmark,” Emerg Infect Dis. 14(9): 1383-89 (2008).  See also van Duijkeren et al., “Transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains between different kinds of pig farms,” Vet Microbiol 126: 383-89 (2008); Khanna et al., “Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization in pigs and pig farmers,” Vet Microbiol 128: 298-303 (2008).

[51] Wing et al., “Air pollution and odor in communities near industrial swine operations,” Environmental Health Perspectives, 116:1362-68 (2008); Schinasi et al., “Air Pollution, Lung Function, and Physical Symptoms in Communities Near Concentrated Swine Feeding Operations,” Epidemiology 22: 208-15 (2011). Likewise, a study of adults living in rural German towns with a high density of CAFOs found asthma, nasal allergies and odor annoyance. Radon et al., “Environmental exposure to confined animal feeding operations and respiratory health of neighboring residents,” Epidemiology 18:300-08 (2007).

[52] Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, “Impact of Industrial Farm Animal Production on Rural Communities” (2008).

[53] Environmental Fabrics, Inc., Press Release, Kenansville Farm.

[54] Tajik et al., “Impact of odor from industrial hog operations on daily living activities,” New Solut 18(2):193-205 (2008), at pp. 193-98.  “The types of activities that are restricted by hog odor are social interactions, physical activities, energy- and cost-saving activities, relaxing outside or indoors, and sleeping. Social activities have been shown to positively affect health, improve overall well-being, reduce stress, and strengthen social networks.”  The study additionally noted that “activities like gardening, working, growing vegetables, and playing outside, naturally integrate physical activity into the day-to-day living of rural residents and have enormous health benefits. Research has already shown that residents in rural communities perceive the environmental barriers as a reason for physical inactivity. Therefore, any moderate to severe restriction in these activities could further force the rural residents into an inactive and sedentary lifestyle.”

[55] Schmidt, “Swine CAFOs and Novel H1N1 Flu,” Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 117, No. 9 (Sept. 2009); Poljak et al., “Investigation of exposure to swine influenza viruses in Ontario (Canada) finisher herds in 2004 and 2005,” Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 83:24-40 (2008). Residents of Perote believed the outbreak to be caused by contamination from pig breeding farms located in the area. They believed that the farms polluted the atmosphere and local water bodies, leading to the outbreak. According to residents, the company denied responsibility attributed the cases to "flu." However, according to a municipal health official, preliminary investigations indicated that the disease vector was a type of fly that reproduces in pig waste.   

[56] Schmidt, “Swine CAFOs and Novel H1N1 Flu,” supra; “The Landscape of Antibiotic Resistance,” EHP 117:A244-A250 (2009). Zoonotic diseases are contagious diseases spread between animals and humans.  In addition flies and other pests from CAFOs can transmit disease.  Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, “Staff Summary of Occupational and Community Public Health Impacts.” (“Nondomestic animal, birds, and insects may also contribute to the community spread of zoonotic pathogens from CAFOs.”).

[57] See grower agreements filed in In Re D&B Swine Farms, Inc., E.D.N.C. Adversary Proceeding No. 09-00160-8-JRL.  At Docket No. 1-4 filed July 30, 2009 is an agreement including the term at page 8 that the integrator can terminate the grower for falling into the bottom 25%.  See also Docket No. 1-2 (p. 8, grower can be terminated if it falls into the bottom 25% of growers on the metric of “average daily gain”).  

[58] “Under the explicit language of the Nursery Agreement, all of the pigs to which D&B provided nursery services were, and remained at all times while the pigs were in possession of D&B, the property of Murphy-Brown.”  In Re D&B Swine Farms, Inc., supra, Memorandum in Support of Motion For Partial Summary Judgment dated July 1, 2011, p. 5. 

[59] Horton et al., “Malodor as a trigger of stress and negative mood in neighbors of industrial hog operations,” American Journal of Public Health, 3(S3), S610-S615 (2009).

[60] Hribar, “Understanding Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations and Their Impact on Communities,” National Association of Local Boards of Health (2010), p. 6.  “Houseflies, stable flies, and mosquitoes are the most common insects associated with CAFOs….. Residences closest to the feeding operations experience a much higher fly population than average homes.”  Id. at p. 8.

[61] UNC-TV broadcast with interview of Wendell Murphy dated Nov. 20, 2011.

[62] Smithfield 2012 integrated annual report, p. 44.

[63] Keil et al., “Suitability of public records for evaluating health effects of treated sewage sludge in North Carolina,” NC Med J 72(2):98-104 (2011).

[64] UNC-TV broadcast with interview of Wendell Murphy dated Nov. 20, 2011.

[65] See In Re D&B Swine Farms, supra, Mem. dated July 1, 2011, p. 5:  “Additionally, Murphy-Brown had no obligation under the Nursery Agreement to keep a certain amount of pigs at in D&B’s nursery.”  “Murphy-Brown was not obligated under the Nursery Agreement to keep its pigs in D&B’s nursery and had the right to remove its pigs, if it chose to do so.”  Id. “Murphy-Brown’s removal of all of its pigs from the nursery of D&B was not a breach of the Nursery Agreement.”  Id.  

[66] Kilburn, “Human Impairment from Living near Confined Animal (Hog) Feeding Operations,” Journal of Environmental and Public Health (2012).

[67] Smithfield 2012 Form 10-K, p. 4.

[68] See news article, “Goodbye U.S. bacon? Smithfield buyout debate continues, 7/10/13, available at http://www.agriculture.com (noting how an industry expert, Daniel Slane “disagreed with Smithfield's Pope that the new Chinese owner is a private company. Its Chairman, Wan Long, is a high-ranking member of the communist party, Slane said. ‘If he does not do what they say, they will remove him – or worse.’ The bank of China, which is the Chinese government, is financing the $4.7 billion purchase of Smithfield, he said.”  See also testimony of Daniel Slane before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry dated July 10, 2013.  The Chinese-language Shuanghui website, when translated into English, includes information such as this about its Chairman, Wan Long: “born in 1940, Communist Party member, Senior Economist and senior political worker, currently Chairman of Shuanghui Group, World Meat Association, standing Director of China Meat Association, Senior Consultant, Ninth, at the National People's Congress.  In Bandung, the army in 1960….”  See:  http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv.aspx?from=&to=en&a=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shuanghui.net%2Fwww%2Fzongcai%2F.

[69] Wing et al., “Air Pollution from Industrial Swine Operations and Blood Pressure of Neighboring Residents,” Environ Health Perspect. 121(1):92-6 (2013).

[70] Schauberger, et al., “Empirical model of odor emission from deep-pit swine finishing barns to derive a standardized odor emission factor,” Atmospheric Environment 66:84-90 (2013).

[71] Nicole, “CAFOs and Environmental Justice: The Case of North Carolina,” Environ Health Perspect 121:A182-A189, at A185 (2013).

[72] Identifying Opportunities and Impacts for New Uses of Hog Waste in Eastern North Carolina, Economic Development Workshop, Department of City and Regional Planning, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Fall 2013).

[73] See EPA spreadsheet of Operational anaerobic digesters, sorted by state (with information on RES Ag DM 2 - 1 LLC, Magnolia, Duplin County, NC. 42,000 swine, Operational 2013. Bio-Terre Systems, Inc.; Revolution Energy Solutions, LLC; and RES Ag DM 4 - 3 LLC, Magnolia, Duplin NC, 30,000 swine, Operational 2013. Bio-Terre Systems, Inc.; Revolution Energy Solutions, LLC).

[74] Kafle et al., “Emissions of Odor, Ammonia, Hydrogen Sulfide, and Volatile Organic Compounds from Shallow-Pit Pig Nursery Rooms,” J. of Biosystems Eng. 39(2):76-86 (2014).

[75] Van Rijen et al., “Livestock-Associated MRSA Carriage in Patients without Direct Contact with Livestock,” PLoS ONE 9(6): e100294 (2014).

[76] Liu et al., “Ammonia and hydrogen sulfide emissions from swine production facilities in North America: a meta-analysis,” J Anim Sci. 2014 Apr;92(4):1656-65. 

[77] Michelle B. Nowlin, “Sustainable Production of Swine:  Putting Lipstick on a Pig?” Vermont Law Review, Vol. 37:1079, at pp. 1125-27. See also Press Release, “Premium Standard Farms Completes Installation of Next Generation Technology Seven Months Ahead of Schedule,” Jan. 11, 2012.