Environmental injustice in North Carolina's hog industry.
Publication: Environmental Health Perspectives
Volume 108, Issue 3
Pages 225 - 231
Abstract
Rapid growth and the concentration of hog production in North Carolina have raised concerns of a disproportionate impact of pollution and offensive odors on poor and nonwhite communities. We analyzed the location and characteristics of 2,514 intensive hog operations in relation to racial, economic, and water source characteristics of census block groups, neighborhoods with an average of approximately 500 households each. We used Poisson regression to evaluate the extent to which relationships between environmental justice variables and the number of hog operations persisted after consideration of population density. There are 18.9 times as many hog operations in the highest quintile of poverty as compared to the lowest; however, adjustment for population density reduces the excess to 7.2. Hog operations are approximately 5 times as common in the highest three quintiles of the percentage nonwhite population as compared to the lowest, adjusted for population density. The excess of hog operations is greatest in areas with both high poverty and high percentage nonwhites. Operations run by corporate integrators are more concentrated in poor and nonwhite areas than are operations run by independent growers. Most hog operations, which use waste pits that can contaminate groundwater, are located in areas with high dependence on well water for drinking. Disproportionate impacts of intensive hog production on people of color and on the poor may impede improvements in economic and environmental conditions that are needed to address public health in areas which have high disease rates and low access to medical care as compared to other areas of the state.
Formats available
You can view the full content in the following formats:
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
License Information
EHP is an open-access journal published with support from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health. All content is public domain unless otherwise noted.
History
Published online: 1 March 2000
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click DOWNLOAD.
Cited by
- Simonds C, Toward a Buddhist Ecological Ethic of Care, Religions, 10.3390/rel14070893, 14, 7, (893), (2023).
- Kanankege K, Traynor I, Perez A, A reanalysis: Do hog farms cause disease in North Carolina neighborhoods?, Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 10.3389/fvets.2022.1052306, 9, (2023).
- Schmidt S, Bearing the Brunt: Who Breathes the Air Pollutants from Hog CAFOs in North Carolina?, Environmental Health Perspectives, 10.1289/EHP13526, 131, 8, (2023).
- Lewis B, Battye W, Aneja V, Kim H, Bell M, Modeling and Analysis of Air Pollution and Environmental Justice: The Case for North Carolina’s Hog Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, Environmental Health Perspectives, 10.1289/EHP11344, 131, 8, (2023).
- Hall J, Khanjar N, Seyoum G, Ravichandran V, Galarraga J, Garg A, Casteel R, Wilson S, 20 Years of Environmental Injustice and the Mississippi Hog Industry: Spatial and Statistical Analyses for Low-Wealth Communities and Communities of Color, Environmental Justice, 10.1089/env.2021.0103, (2023).
- Sanchez L, Warziniack T, Knowles M, The inequitable exposure of socially vulnerable groups to water shortages across the United States, Environmental Research Letters, 10.1088/1748-9326/acb06d, 18, 4, (044022), (2023).
- Son J, Bell M, Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in relation to environmental justice related variables in Wisconsin, United States, Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, 10.1038/s41370-023-00598-y, (2023).
- LeMasters K, Delamater P, Brinkley-Rubinstein L, Edwards J, Robinson W, Pence B, Mass probation: Temporal and geographic correlation of county-level probation rates & mental health in North Carolina, SSM - Mental Health, 10.1016/j.ssmmh.2023.100189, 3, (100189), (2023).
- Rudko N, Muenich R, Garcia M, Xu T, Development of a point-source model to improve simulations of manure lagoon interactions with the environment, Journal of Environmental Management, 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116332, 325, (116332), (2023).
- Ayala-Ramirez M, MacNell N, McNamee L, McGrath J, Akhtari F, Curry M, Dunnon A, Fessler M, Garantziotis S, Parks C, Fargo D, Schmitt C, Motsinger-Reif A, Hall J, Miller F, Schurman S, Association of distance to swine concentrated animal feeding operations with immune-mediated diseases: An exploratory gene-environment study, Environment International, 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107687, 171, (107687), (2023).
- See more