Following a North Carolina State Court ruling that a methane retrieval system to be implemented by Smithfield Farms was legal, the Environmental Justice Community Action Network and Cape Fear River Watch petitioned the North Carolina Court of Appeals to reverse the ruling.  At issue was whether the Department of Environmental Quality justifiably determined that the proposed waste management system was “the least harmful and reasonable with respect to accumulative results”.  The Smithfield proposal called for placing flexible covers over the lagoons with an installation to scavenge biogas including methane that would be piped to a central point to generate energy.  The ruling by the North Carolina Court of Appeals in favor of Smithfield clears the way to implement the project.

The existing open lagoon system obviously represents challenges to the environment and is problematic to residents in proximity to hog farms. Opponents of intensive livestock production use every possible legal channel to attempt to eliminate the efficient supply of meat products to the detriment of animal agriculture and consumers.