Before legislations, many farmers would directly dump manure or dead pigs into rivers, which contaminated the rivers. Once the state recognized this problem, the state created regulations by which the farmers must abide when dumping any animal products. All farms throughout North Carolina have regulations that require farmers to adopt a whole-farm waste management plan. This plan specifies how manure is to be stored, how much manure is to be applied to fields, the nutrient balance of the manure, the crops to be grown on land, where it is applied and rates and timing of application.
Also hog lagoons which are manmade have a big affect on the Cape Fear River. This is due to hog wastes that still end up seeping into the ground water due to inadequate hog lagoons and runoff. There is no doubt that hog farming adds nutrients to a watershed but nitrogen and other nutrients such as phosphorus are what seems to pose the greatest environmental cost to water quality in North Carolina. Ground water is affected when soil below the root zone contains levels of high concentration of nitrogen and other nutrients. In some cases, the nitrogen will move through the soil and into the ground water, contaminating both soil and ground water. If the nitrogen or other harmful nutrients contaminate ground water that flows into drinking water supplies, this poses a threat to humans. Also, the nitrate can be carried to other lakes and streams contaminating them as well.
Water contamination can also occur from fertilizers that are sprayed on crops adjacent to the hog farms. A specific amount of manure is allowed to be sprayed on crops as fertilizer. With excessive rain, the fertilizer can become run off and contaminate the streams. This is another example of why phosphorus and nitrate levels in streams surrounding hog farms are exceeding regulations.
Commercial fertilizers have also been traced in causing high nitrogen and phosphorus levels in the ground water. The commercial fertilizers not only cause this contamination but can be very toxic in large amounts when consumed by plants or animals.
