A group of North Carolina residents and environmental groups are urging lawmakers to help communities living with pollution and other impacts from industrial swine and poultry production.
The Rally for Racial and Environmental Justice will take place Wednesday at the Halifax Mall in Raleigh.
In Surry County, residents say the stench and pollution from the expansion of poultry farms is impacting their quality of life. Doug Beets and his wife Helen live near Pilot Mountain State Park. He says they want lawmakers to create zoning ordinances for areas around homes, playgrounds and churches.
“My dad was a farmer. I understand farming has some smell associated with it, but that the government would have a complete lack of regulation associated with this industry to the extent that I can't enjoy my property anymore and be completely unresponsive to the citizens strongly affected by that is a failure of government on multiple levels,” says Beets.
Guest speakers at the rally include Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., President of Waterkeeper Alliance and Rev. Curtis Gatewood of the North Carolina NAACP.
Currently, state law exempts large-scale farms from county zoning ordinances that might require restrictions such as setbacks.
The poultry industry in North Carolina has an estimated economic impact of $17 billion. Poultry companies say demand is growing and new regulations will hurt the industry.
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