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What’s Going On With the NC Farm Bill?

Action Expired

6/26/2018

Last night Governor Roy Cooper vetoed SB711, a dangerous bill that would greatly limit the constitutional right of North Carolinians living near industrial hog farms to seek justice in the courts for nuisance and pollution of their air and water. The General Assembly will vote later this week on whether or not to override Governor Cooper’s veto.

This is when we need your calls more than ever. Will you make a quick call to your state representative now to make sure Governor Cooper’s veto of SB711 stands? If you don’t know who your representative is, you can use the “Who Represents Me?” tool on the NC General Assembly website here, and find your representative’s phone number here.

The Facts About SB711:

This bill was drafted to protect Smithfield Foods, an out-of-state industrial hog operation owned by Chinese business interests, from a lawsuit brought by neighbors of industrial hog farms in Eastern NC. The intention is to protect a foreign corporation from liability where rural communities of color are disproportionately impacted by operations they own or control through contracts.
This bill is not about protecting farmers, it’s about protecting profits. All of the pending lawsuits are against Smithfield through its subsidiary, Murphy-Brown. The only entity paying damages (or potentially liable) in these cases is Smithfield. While some of the facilities are operated by contract growers, the only defendant in the lawsuits is Smithfield.
SB711 allows only neighbors within half a mile of an industrial farm to file a lawsuit, but the claim must be brought within one year of the establishment of the operation. Since there’s been a moratorium on new hog CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations, also known as large industrial animal operations) since 1997, new operations are not being established. This prevents any neighbor from being able to pursue a nuisance suit. This runs contrary to nuisance theory (and general statute of limitations) where the claim arises when the harm actually occurs, not when the potential for harm begins.
This is not to mention neighbors of industrial farms who live more than half a mile away, who will have no longer have any standing to sue for nuisance. Water pollution moves animal waste hundreds of miles downstream, and odor and bacteria are carried by the wind, so neighbors farther than half a mile from hog farms will continue to be effected.
SB711 would also severely limit local governments’ ability to regulate large agriculture operations – including poultry plants.

You can still take action. If your state representative voted YES on SB711, ask them to support Governor Cooper’s veto. If your NC House Representative voted NO on SB711, call and thank them for supporting North Carolina homeowners, and ask them to stand strong to support Governor Cooper’s veto of this dangerous bill. Here’s how some of WNC’s House Reps. voted on SB711:

Chuck McGrady (Henderson): No

Cody Henson (Henderson, Polk, Transylvania): Yes

Kevin Corbin (Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Macon): Yes

Jonathan C. Jordan (Ashe, Watauga): Yes

Michele D. Presnell (Haywood, Madison, Yancey): Yes

Susan C. Fisher (Buncombe): No

John Ager (Buncombe): No

Brian Turner (Buncombe): No

Tim Moore (Cleveland): Yes

Mike Clampitt (Haywood, Jackson, Swain): Yes

Josh Dobson (Avery, McDowell, Mitchell): Yes

And for the record, here’s part of the statement Governor Cooper released after his veto:

“North Carolina’s nuisance laws can help allow generations of families to enjoy their homes and land without fear for their health and safety. Those same laws stopped the Tennessee Valley Authority from pumping air pollution into our mountains…Giving one industry special treatment at the expense of its neighbors is unfair.”

Thank you for standing up for North Carolina homeowners and for clean air and water in the state we love.

MountainTrue Raleigh Report: The End (of the Session) is Near, CCA Goes to Raleigh & More

CCA members with just some of the legislators they’ve met with this week in Raleigh. From left to right: Holly Cunningham (CCA), Alan Rosenthal (CCA), Rev. Scott Hardin-Nieri (CCA), Rep. Susan C. Fisher, Sen. Terry Van Duyn, Rep. Brian Turner, Rev. Bill Garrard, Rep. John Ager, and Rev. Kevin Bates (CCA).

2018 Farm Act, Veto Overrides and Constitutional Amendments

The 2018 North Carolina General Assembly has started its slow march toward adjournment. Here’s a quick update about what to expect before legislators go home.

Last week, lawmakers approved a flurry of bills in anticipation of an expected adjournment later this month. Lawmakers plan to restrict their work during the remainder of June to local bills and constitutional amendments – which do not require the Governor’s signature – as well as veto overrides. Keep in mind that veto overrides require a three-fifths vote in both chambers, or 72 votes in the House and 30 votes in the Senate. A three-fifths vote is also required to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot.

On the veto override front, the two biggest environmental bills of the session – the 2018 Farm Act and the legislature’s annual regulatory “reform” bill – are now on the Governor’s desk. A veto of the Farm Act is widely expected. There are 74 Republicans in the House and 35 in the Senate, so a strict vote along party lines would override the vetoes. However, collecting the needed votes for an override is a very different game in each chamber. Expect the Senate majority to easily and quickly override any veto of these bills. In the House, however, the vote is likely to be much closer, with many environmental groups (including MountainTrue) and other opponents of the bill working hard to find the votes to sustain a veto.

Lawmakers are also expected to consider putting several constitutional amendments on the fall ballot – largely, it appears, in hopes of motivating certain groups of voters to get to the polls. Some of the proposals include a constitutional amendment protecting the “right to hunt and fish,” a voter identification requirement and a limit on personal income taxes.

Creation Care Alliance of WNC Goes to Raleigh

The Creation Care Alliance of WNC traveled to Raleigh this week to meet with legislators. Among the issues they discussed were clean and renewable energy, landslide hazard mapping and trout and hemlock tree protection.

Thanks for supporting MountainTrue’s advocacy efforts. Keep an eye out for our legislative alerts and opportunities to help us speak out for the environment in Raleigh.

French Broad Riverkeeper Releases New Report on River’s Health

Asheville, NC – The French Broad Riverkeeper has released the State of the French Broad River Watershed 2018, the first published report that grades the cleanliness and water quality of 62 creeks and streams throughout the French Broad Watershed.

“Right before jumping into the river, the number one question people ask me is ‘Is it clean?’” says French Broad Riverkeeper Hartwell Carson. “This report is an answer to that question.”

The report combines testing results from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, the Volunteer Water Information Network, the Stream Monitoring Information Exchange, and MountainTrue’s volunteer water quality monitoring programs, weights the data and gives each stream a grade from A through F.

An A grade is given to streams that have excellent water quality and low pollution levels, and Fs are given to streams that have poor water quality. Sixty-six percent of streams scored A or B, a vast improvement from decades past. However improvements are still needed, as 34 percent of the rivers in the report were rated a C or a D.

Four Cleanest Streams:

Middle Fork French Broad River – 100 points

Cathey’s Creek – 100 points

Cataloochee Creek – 100 points

Pigeon, upstream of Canton – 100 points

Four Dirtiest Streams:

Turkey Creek – 60 points

Newfound Creek – 62.5 points

Boylston Creek – 65 points

Fines Creek – 65 points

The report is averaging data sets from various sources collected over the last few years. “The report serves as a good, useful guideline,” explains Hartwell Carson. “But it’s important to remember water quality will vary a bit depending on weather conditions. Water is usually dirtier right after a big rainstorm, so be more cautious when the water is cloudy.”

The cleanest waterways are well protected from pollution, and most of their watersheds are located in protected public lands that lack a lot of agriculture, development or industrial pollution sources. The dirtiest streams lack land-use protections and are heavily impacted by bad agricultural practices and development.

Sediment and bacteria pollution are the most common sources of pollution to our waters. Sediment pollution is caused by runoff from construction sites and agricultural operations as well as eroding stream banks. Bacteria pollution comes from agricultural runoff, sewage leaks and faulty wastewater treatment plants.

If you’re interested in helping to make the French Broad River cleaner and healthier, you can take part in the French Broad Riverkeeper’s water quality volunteer programs. The French Broad Riverkeeper also spearheaded the development of the Muddy Water Watch smartphone app, which allows the public to easily document and report erosion incidents to the appropriate authorities on-the-go. To learn more and download the app, visit: http://www.muddywaterwatch.com/ or get it from the Apple App Store (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/muddy-waters-watch/id1092256794) or Google Play (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.statcrew.muddywaterwatch).

Methodology

The State of the French Broad River Watershed, 2018 report report is an average of all the data available in the French Broad Watershed over the last several years. The report combines chemical data from the Environmental Quality Institute (EQI), benthic macroinvertebrate data from EQI and MountainTrue, E. coli data from MountainTrue’s Swim Guide, and a variety of data sources from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ). The chemical and benthic data was converted into a number so it could be averaged into an overall rating for each stream.

Chemical data from EQI is made available through their Volunteer Water Information Network (VWIN) program. That data is rated as excellent, good, average, below average and poor. Those were assigned the following rating: excellent – 100, good – 90, average – 80, below average – 70, and poor – 60. Benthic macroinvertebrate data is provided through the Stream Monitoring Information Exchange, which lists its stream ratings as excellent, good, good-fair, fair and poor. Those rating were assigned the same ratings as the VWIN data with excellent – 100, good – 90, good-fair – 80, fair – 70 and poor – 60. Swim Guide data was assigned an average of the number of times the data passed the US Environmental Protection Agency’s safe swimming benchmark of 235 E. coli units per 100/ml. If the site passed 75% of the time, then a rating of 75 was assigned that location.

The NCDEQ data was taken from the 303(d) list of water quality data taken by the state. This data is more complicated to average than the previous data sets because it is a mix of testing results for chemical, benthic, bacteria, fish, chemical and specific pollutants . Some locations had multiple parameters measured, such as fish, bacteria and benthic. Each combination of data was assigned an average listed below.

If two parameters either meet the state standard or are good, the score is 100
State data for benthos is good/fair – 85
State data benthos is not impaired – 80
Benthos fair – 65
Benthos poor – 55
Benthos fair and fish poor – 55
Benthos poor, fish fair – 55
Fish good, benthos fair – 77.5
Benthos good/fair, fish good – 90
Fish community excellent, benthos good or vice/versa – 95
Fecal impaired – 60
Meets criteria for a long list of water quality standards – 100
Meets criteria for a long list of water quality standards with some inconclusive – 100
Meets criteria for a long list of water quality standards except one – 90
Two standards are good and one failed – 80

Data points were grouped into subwatersheds and averaged, and this is how we arrived at the final ratings as displayed in the State of the French Broad River Watershed, 2018 report.

Success Story: MountainTrue’s Green Riverkeeper Helps Avoid Shooting Range Next to Green River Game Land

The proposed shooting range brought water quality, public input concerns

We did it! After a week of whirlwind organizing, residents of Saluda and the greater Henderson County area are celebrating victory as Hendersonville County Commissioners have promised to back away from building a proposed shooting range and law enforcement training center. The facility would have been built on a 99-acre lot on Macedonia Road and bordering the Green River Game Land.

“As our region continues to grow, we have to consider what type of development we want to see and how we can strike a balance between the influx of people moving to our beautiful area and the protection of our special places and rural character,” says Gray Jernigan, MountainTrue’s Green Riverkeeper. “That takes careful planning and an engaged citizenry who will put their foot down to stop a bad idea in its tracks when necessary.”

Threat to Community, Public Lands

And why was this an issue MountainTrue cared about? “We ha[d] lots of concerns about lead contamination and water quality, noise impacts on wildlife, sedimentation from land clearing and development, and potential steep slope development and landslide risk,” Gray told MountainTrue members in an email and the Hendersonville Lightning in an interview. The wetlands and streams at the proposed site drain directly to the Green River, which is also a water supply watershed, and lead contamination from bullets posed a water quality threat.

Residents pointed out that they were opposed to the site chosen for the shooting range, and not to shooting itself. Resident Carl McMurray said, “I’m a gun owner. I’m a pretty avid shooter. That’s not the issue. My issue is with the traffic and noise.”

Put On Notice

A small number of Saluda residents unexpectedly received letters from the Sheriff this month informing them that their properties would be affected by the construction of the project. The letters invited them to an information session at the proposed site on Saturday, April 14, but so many people were expected to attend that the Sheriff moved the location of the meeting to the courthouse in Hendersonville late Friday afternoon. Again, only a handful of residents were notified of the change.

Gray became active in opposing the shooting range early on, coordinating with local residents and mobilizing MountainTrue members. He postponed a river cleanup on Saturday to attend the information session and invited paddlers, but the session happening inside was not open to the public or the media. Gray joined other residents in expressing concern about the public input process, telling the Hendersonville Times-News, “It seems strange that a project that implicates public land would be closed to the public.”

“More Emails Than Residents of Saluda”

The community regrouped for a meeting the following Monday, April 16 to keep organizing. A couple hundred people turned out to the Saluda Fire and Rescue Department to share their concerns about the project and plan the next steps for their response. They encouraged their fellow community members to flood the Henderson County Commissioners with emails, and Commissioner Grady Hawkins later said he had received “more emails than there are residents of Saluda” opposing the shooting range.

Two days later, Saluda turned out in force again for a County Commissioners meeting on April 18. The shooting range project was not on the agenda, but when the Commissioners saw the turnout of concerned citizens, they quickly amended the schedule to include discussion. This was the first time that County officials talked publicly about the project, which likely would not have happened without citizens getting involved.

Success, Less Than A Week Later

Over 70 MountainTrue members and citizens submitted public comments to the Commissioners at the meeting, discussing potential impacts on the environment, their communities, local businesses, and quality of life. At the end of several hours of public comment, the Commissioners reiterated their commitment to back away from pursuing this site.

Henderson County is still under contract on the property and has an option to purchase it until the end of May. The County had already signed contracts with inspectors and consultants to prepare a due diligence report on the property, so the Commissioners decided to fulfill those obligations and will wait to receive the report at their May 16 meeting before officially abandoning the project.

Want To Learn More About Our Work in Saluda and Henderson County?

Join Us!

A Message From the Creation Care Alliance: What Lent Can Teach Us About Uncertainty and Action

Scott Hardin-Nieri is the Director of the Creation Care Alliance of WNC, a network of congregations and people of faith who have united around a moral and spiritual call to preserve creation. Whether or not you observe the Christian season of Lent, Scott offers his thoughts on what Lent can teach us in these changing times.

As spring emerges around us, some Christians are observing the season of Lent, a 40-day period of sacrifice and preparation prior to Easter Sunday. While Easter is a celebration of new life, forgiveness, and wholeness, Lent takes on a more introspective and somber tone, reflecting the defining moments in the wilderness in the early stories of Jesus. The beginning of this period is marked by Ash Wednesday, when ashes are placed on the foreheads of the gathered to indicate grief, humility and repentance. Ash Wednesday blessings often use the words: “Remember, you are from dust and to dust you return.” Men, women, children, babies, students, executives, coal miners, bartenders, everybody who chooses to receive ashes on their foreheads at this time are reminded of the fragility, gifts and natural cycles of life.

It is humbling to be reminded of the human relationship to dust, as we remember that humans are part of creation and not above or beyond it. In the Hebrew Scriptures of Genesis, the Hebrew word for the first human, Adam, is closely related to Adamah (אדמה), meaning ground or soil. And as Jesus spends 40 days in the wilderness, he comes close to the Adamah around and within him. There, the stories say, he fasted, suffered, and was tested by the forces of pride, brokenness, greed and material wealth. Thus, wilderness is often seen in the Christian world as a place of trial, hardship and temptation.

However wilderness is also a place of becoming, where Jesus lived fully – where he watched the stars, felt the wind and sun, listened to the animals, to the Spirit and to himself. And it is where he practiced living into the name “Beloved,” which was given to him after he emerged from the Jordan River at his baptism. It was this deep connection to land that enabled Jesus to find power in his identity as a peacemaker, a seeker of justice and a friend to the outcast. In other words, Jesus’s time in the wilderness drove him to action.

Aren’t we in a wilderness moment?

We find ourselves in a time of great ecological and social challenge. Congregations that I visit are filled with people who are grieving these challenges and asking difficult questions. I just returned from the State of Appalachia conference in West Virginia, where towns that have been built around the coal industry have had their communities, families, water and land destroyed, and face the task of transitioning to a new source of energy that serves people as well as the earth. We are in an era of unmatched human creativity with new technologies like driverless cars, while also losing some of our planet’s oldest God-given creativity with the extinction of species like the white rhino. We see old power structures flipping, as women and children stand up to march for systemic change in numbers we have never seen before. We are immersed in fear and sadness in this transition, but also offered numerous opportunities to courageously resist despair. How are we caring for our children and grandchildren, and what kind of earth will we pass down to them?

“We are immersed in fear and sadness in this transition, but also offered numerous opportunities to courageously resist despair. How are we caring for our children and grandchildren, and what kind of earth will we pass down to them?”

Scott Hardin-Nieri, Director of the Creation Care Alliance

Like those who observe Ash Wednesday and Lent, we at the Creation Care Alliance are finding a deeper understanding of our relationship to soil, microbes, creatures and people. At a time when dominance over other people and the earth is commended, we believe that finding our place among all things and remembering that we come from and return to dust is a faithful way forward.

So whether you observe Lent or not, we invite you to listen to this wilderness moment and consider how it might transform you if you let it in. If we are able to take the lessons of this time and move forward, I believe this is a moment we will look back on and say, that’s when we figured out who we were.

Want to hear more from the Creation Care Alliance?

“Moving Beyond Coal”: An Overview of MountainTrue’s Recent Energy Advocacy By Katie Breckheimer

Former MountainTrue Campaign Manager Joan Walker at a Carolina Land Coalition rally on the old Henderson County Courthouse steps.

MountainTrue’s Board Chair Katie Breckheimer has another article on Blue Ridge Now. Check it out here to read up on MountainTrue’s recent clean energy victories, and learn how we can all pitch in to delay or avoid the construction of another fossil-fuel power plant through the Blue Horizons Project.

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