The facilities use open lagoons to collect hog feces and urine. The rules adopted in South Carolina govern what type of construction must be used for those lagoons and require them to be certain distances from waterways and other property. Right now, DHEC staff are reviewing the mega-farms' applications. They have sent those requests back to the farms with some concerns. First, regulators want to know if more can be done to safeguard against spillage from the lagoons.
Environmentalists fear that leaks from such facilities can contaminate groundwater.
There have been problems in other states when lagoons failed or overflowed during floods. North Carolina has suffered the most from these problems, including at least one incident in which millions of gallons of water in rivers were fouled and millions of fish were killed. DHEC also is pushing the applicants to say more about odor control. That applies both to the smell from open lagoons and from the barns and feeding houses where the pigs would live. Problems with odor have arisen around agriculture-related facilities in other parts of the state.