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Duplin County Not Included in Pilot Program for Hog Farm Inspection

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RALEIGH — Buried deep inside the state budget this year are two paragraphs thatcreate a pilot program for inspecting hog farms. The program was originallygoing to be tried in Duplin County but after an uproar from environmentalists and a reversal from state leaders, that has all changed.

Duplin County is the hog capital of North Carolina, so environmentals werecaught by surprise when the state decided to turn hog inspections inDuplin over to the Division of Soil and Water Conservation, theagency designed to help farmers, not enforce the law.

The perception out there is that farmers are getting a break from the DSWmore so than they would from DEHNR inspectors.

"This does not give a break to anybody," said Don Reuter, DEHNR spokesman."And the fact of the matter is probably they're going to get more scrutinythan others because of that appearance."

After news reports about the change, the Department of Environment, Healthand Natural Resources has changed its mind because officials said thereare just too many hogs in Duplin County.

"The biggest county in terms of population and that does not make senseto use that as a pilot," said Reuter. "It was just not manageable to do itin Duplin County."

Two counties with fewer hogs, Columbus and Jones, will host the pilotprogram instead. The lawmaker who put the language into the budget is Sen.Charlie Albertson, a Democrat from Duplin County.

Sen. Albertson told the Associated Press he's surprised his home countyis no longer in the pilot program, but environmentalists are ecstatic.

The pilot program goes into effect on the first of the year. DEHNR leaderssaid inspectors from water quality will accompany soil and water workersfor the first few months. They want to make it clear that hog farmers willnot be skating by if they're in violation.

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