Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 10/1/18



Speaking at The Wall Street Journal Global Food Forum, Smithfield Foods CEO Kenneth Sullivan said the company was taking  '’fresh look” at where its hog waste lagoons are situated on floodplains in North Carolina, and may relocate some of them, according to a report in the Journal.

The company has moved some lagoons over the last 20 years away from areas prone to flooding. Sullivan pointed out that less than 1 percent of the state’s lagoons were significantly affected by Florence, far less than were damage during Hurricane Floyd in 1999.

“In the aftermath of this storm, we’ll take a fresh look to see what we learned,” Sullivan is quoted as saying.

Florence reportedly killed 3.4 million chickens and 5,500 hogs. In addition, five hog-waste lagoons sustained structural damage, at least two were reported breached and manure overflowed from at least 30 other sites, according to state officials.
Smithfield executives were not immediately available to provide additional detail.

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