Hog Waste Permit Violates State Law, North Carolina Groups Say

Fast-tracked permitting for hog waste-to-energy sites from North Carolina’s top environmental agency is being challenged by the Southern Environmental Law Center in a legal filing.

A petition to initiate a case alleges that the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s general permit allowing hog farmers to spray hog waste on fields violates a state law requiring the state to mandate clean technologies.

That waste pollutes nearby air and waterways of disproportionately Black, Latino, and Native American communities, according to the filing on behalf of the Environmental Justice Community Action Network and Cape Fear River Watch.

“This permit will add to ...