A First-Hand Look at Impacted Communities in Eastern North Carolina

November 1, 2023, was a cool and windy morning as a group of scientists gathered in eastern NC, at the Environmental Justice Community Action Network (EJCAN) office, for greetings and a peek at the EJCAN water testing lab. Sherri White-Williamson, director of the local nonprofit based in Sampson County, was our tour guide.

Members of EJCAN, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH), RTI International (RTI), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality getting ready for the November 2023 tour.

Sherri, who grew up in rural Sampson County – North Carolina's second largest hogproducing state (USDA 2022 Census of Agriculture) – earned a bachelor's degree in Zoology from Howard University and a Master of Public Administration at American University. During her career at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), she organized “toxic tours” to communities affected by pollution. What she saw on these tours made her realize that she could have a larger impact. After retiring from her career at the EPA and becoming a lawyer, her sights were set on making a difference locally. She returned home to North Carolina in 2018 and teamed up with fellow law school alumni in 2020 to launch what is known today as EJCAN. EJCAN brings community members together to collect critical data, addressing environmental and public health data gaps, while raising awareness about their community’s concerns. One way they achieve this is through educational tours, which brings attention to the issues at hand while mobilizing collective action.

Our first stop on the tour was a home just 200 yards from a 14-barn Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO). The homeowners said that they lived in the house as the hog industry expanded in the area.

In the past, small, family-owned hog operations used to be a side business for many in the rural South. However, in the late 19th and 20th century, commercialized farms were more in favor instead of smaller, pasture-raised family farms. Industrial farms offered the benefit of raising more hogs at lower costs and controlled conditions- something smaller, pastureraised family farms could not compete with (The North Carolina History Project).

Figure 1. Evolution of Hog Farming in North Carolina: Growth of Industrial Farms and Decline of Small Farms (1970s to 2010s). This graph shows the decline in the number of hog farms over the three decades with a steady increase in number of hogs. (North Carolina Hog Farms and Swine Inventory, 1977-2012)

Today, Duplin and Sampson Counties are the top two pork-producing counties in the U.S (USDA Census of Agriculture).

As we stood in the homeowner’s front yard, he spoke of the smell, along with the rats, flies, and hogs. Rodents and flies have the potential to carry vector born diseases, posing a public health risk to farmers and neighboring communities (Backhans 2012; Barber et al. 2002).

Figure 2. Distribution of hog lagoons in Southeast North Carolina. Distribution of urine, feces and other waste across the counties in North Carolina (Swine Waste Lagoons per County).

Hog operations are disproportionately located in low-income communities of color (Wing et al. 2000). Together, 28 to 29 percent of residents in Sampson and Duplin counties live in poverty, with a high proportion of Black or Latino residents (United States Census Bureau, 2023).

Our next stop was alongside one of the largest methane-producing municipal landfills in the state (US EPA FLIGHT 2022). An odor lingered in the air, but we were assured, “It’s not at all bad today.” In early November, residents rated the smell as a “2 out of 10”, with “10” being the worst, and usually occurring on hot days, particularly during spring and summer. Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S), a colorless gas formed in landfills, has a rotten egg smell and adds to the odors experienced from landfills (Njoku et al., 2019). Long-term exposure to even low levels can cause health problems such as eye irritation, headaches, and fatigue (ASTDR, 2016). Hog farms and other farms with manure storage are also a source of methane and H2S in the environment (Wendee, 2013).

One of the residents said that he had recently visited friends some miles away for a cookout but could never host a gathering at his house because of the smell.

Everyone showed worry that their children might not choose to live in this area due to environmental concerns.

Next at Mt. Zion AMEZ Church, we were welcomed by Reverend Jimmy Melvin and some congregation members. The church originally used a 25-foot well for drinking water since city water wasn't available. However, contamination from a nearby hog waste spray field forced them to deepen the well to 250 feet. The church was responsible for funding this project and continues to pay for regular testing. Reverend Melvin reflected, "Water and air are essentials for all people.” Reverend Melvin also commented on a desire for alternative hog industry practices.

Figure 3. Align RNG Facility in Turkey, NC. This image was taken during the tour of the Align RNG facility.

One of our last stops was Turkey First Baptist Church, located across from the Align RNG facility. Align RNG, a partnership between Dominion Energy and Smithfield Foods, plans to transport methane from at least 19 hog farms to this processing facility via pipelines to create renewable natural gas. Residents worry that this is a way for the industry to monetize waste without addressing the environmental and public health impacts of the underlying swine industry.

Before returning to the EJCAN office, we drove by an Enviva wood pellet production facility. As we approached, we saw several trucks transporting logs to the facility for processing. Sampson County contains the world’s largest producer of biomass wood pellets (LeBlanc & Vlosky, 2022). Much of the product is shipped overseas, where it is burned to generate electricity and/or heat (Henderson et al. 2017)

Within Sampson County, there are many industries, such as industrial poultry and hog farms, the largest landfill in North Carolina, a wood pellet facility, and now biogas facilities. The combined effects on health, well-being, and quality of life from living close to these facilities, known as cumulative impact (EPA, 2024), have not been studied. Environmental monitoring near these pollution sources is an important first step to address the potential health risks, but rural, agricultural communities often remain understudied, leaving a knowledge gap (Dinan et al. 2021).

This knowledge gap can lead to unaddressed health risks and environmental problems. When people gain access to information about their air and water quality, they can better understand these challenges and hold decision-makers accountable (Dinan et al. 2021). EJCAN is working to address these issues in collaboration with other nonprofits and researchers by centering community voices and empowering them with the needed resources to address environmental problems.

As of April 2024, Sherri has led over 25 of these tours to educate a mix of audiences on the concerns of the residents in Sampson County. Sherri and the staff at EJCAN continue to shine a spotlight on topics of environmental justice and provide residents with resources to identify and eliminate exposures in their community. If you are interested in joining a future tour or supporting the efforts of EJCAN, please contact EJCAN at info@ejcan.org or call (910) 299-9118.