poultry farms
Environmental groups file civil rights complaint against DEQ over scant poultry farm regulations
Jefferson Currie, the Lumber River Riverkeeper, drove his truck down St. Paul’s Road, a narrow, sandy stretch near the Robeson-Hoke County line and began counting the chicken barns: “Four, eight, twelve … this is a 48-barn operation,” Currie said, “at 35,000 per barn” – doing the math, that’s roughly 1.7 million birds being raised for […]
Stockholders sue Costco officials over alleged mistreatment of chickens grown too big
A lawsuit claims that Costco is in violation of Nebraska and Iowa livestock welfare laws by breeding chickens that “unnaturally” grow too fast, become so fat they can’t stand up to reach food or water and end up dying. Two Costco shareholders filed the lawsuit Monday in Washington State, where Costco is based, against the […]
Application withdrawn for giant poultry farm in Chatham County
A USDA loan application for a proposed chicken farm near Goldston in Chatham County has been withdrawn, raising questions of whether the enormous operation will be built. Policy Watch learned of the withdrawal after asking the USDA for its final environmental assessment of the project. That assessment was being prepared, but will not be completed […]
Proposed new poultry farm in Chatham County: 750,000 birds, taxpayer-funded — and lots of secrets
Although not the farmer, Sen. Tom McInnis of Richmond County owns the land A proposed poultry farm near Goldston in Chatham County could raise nearly 750,000 birds each year near an important waterway, yet many of the details are secret even though taxpayer funds are bankrolling much of the construction and it’s being built on […]
This morning’s “must read” editorial
Be sure to check out this morning’s lead editorial in Raleigh’s News & Observer, which is based in large measure on the reporting of Policy Watch’s award-winning Environmental Reporter, Lisa Sorg. As Sorg reported earlier this week, North Carolina’s latest proposed animal waste rules — an area already poorly regulated — pose numerous potential problems […]
Monday map time: The link between arsenic, Alzheimer’s disease, coal ash and poultry farms
One billion years ago, volcanoes bulged from the landscape and hot lava coated the future towns of Monroe and Marshville, Waxhaw and Wingate in Union County. This region is known as the state’s “slate belt” — rocks formed by volcanoes. Where there is a slate belt, there is often naturally occurring arsenic. That arsenic can be sloughed into groundwater, where […]