North Carolina hog farmer fined for waste spill into woods
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — State regulators have fined a North Carolina hog farmer $64,000 after an investigation showed he dumped nearly a million gallons of hog waste into a wooded area.
The N.C. Division of Environmental Quality said in a news release on Thursday that Douglas L. Lanier was cited for multiple permit violations, including a stipulation not to discharge wastewater from hog waste lagoons into surface water.
Following up on an anonymous tip, DEQ investigators estimated that 987,440 gallons of wastewater were discharged from the lagoon at the Jones County farm. The agency said contaminants reached an unnamed tributary of the Trent River 1.5 miles (2.4 km) away.