In the case of underground leaks from lagoons, such as the one in Northampton County, the DEM is powerless to intervene unless there's evidence that the contamination has spread to a neighboring property. Until that happens, the agency can't even order monitoring tests. The DEM has greater authority to enforce regulations protecting streams from pollution. But in reality its effectiveness is hobbled by the lack of staff to enforce the rules. At DEM field offices, workers describe a steady flow of complaints about spills, overflowing lagoons and overirrigated fields.
Investigators say they try to respond to all the complaints as quickly as they can.
Yet, since 1989, the agency has filed charges against 48 hog farms-fewer than 10 a year. But top DEM managers say the numbers show less about hog farmers than about the agency's ability to check up on them. Yet, until now, the DEM has no inspectors assigned to see if the plans are being carried out. It does not send workers to make routine inspections of hog farms, or even random checks. In fact, the only time farms are inspected is when someone complains.