Bad bill shields hog farms

Published April 14, 2017

Editorial by Wilmington Star-Journal, April 12, 2017.

A famous adage claims that the public must never see how sausage or legislation is made. North Carolina’s state House gave a grand demonstration when it passed HB-467.

The bill would sharply limit lawsuits against industrial-scale hog farming operations by neighbors.

No longer would neighboring landowners be able to sue over “quality of life” issues such as stench or groundwater pollution. Payouts would be limited to a demonstrable decrease in the property’s fair market value or fair rental value. Critics claim that neighbors would only be able to recover token sums at best.

Frankly, that stinks. What really smells, though, is how HB-467 was railroaded through.

Last Thursday, House Speaker Tim Moore skipped over 11 bills awaiting second or third readings to bring HB-467 up for a second vote. The move was so quick, many legislators were confused. The bill coasted to a third reading Monday and on to the Senate.

(All our area’s Republican representatives voted for the bill; Democrat Deb Butler voted no.)

Why the rush? Well, at the moment, 26 “nuisance lawsuits” by neighbors happen to be pending against Murphy-Brown LLC, the hog-growing subsidiary of Smithfield Foods. If the bill passes, those lawsuits go away.

To be fair, hog production helped many Tar Heel communities survive the collapse of tobacco. Some noise, dust and smells are inevitable in farming. North Carolina already has a “Right to Farm” act that protects farmers from being sued for typical impacts. But what about impacts that are more than typical?

Some neighbors have claimed that hog stench is so extreme, they can’t go out in their yards or on their porches. The aroma sticks to their children’s clothing. Respiratory problems and increased blood pressure levels have been reported,

Researchers have recommended technology and management techniques that can reduce those smells and runoff but, well, those cost money.

At least two Republicans -- former Supreme Court Justice Robert Orr and former House Majority Leader Paul Stam -- have warned that HB-467 might be unconstitutional, since it deprives neighbors of property rights and is tailored to benefit a single specific industry. Neither gentleman is exactly a tree-hugging liberal.

But the bill is backed by the N.C. Pork Council and the Farm Bureau, and apparently that’s good enough for most current state House members.

HB-467 will essentially quash the little guy and benefit multinational corporations. Our state would be nastier as a result. The Senate should vote this misbegotten bill down and, if it doesn’t, Gov. Cooper needs to get out his veto pen.

http://www.starnewsonline.com/opinion/20170412/editorial-april-12-bad-bill-shields-hog-farms