Sprayfield in Operation. Hog waste from waste lagoons is sprayed onto open fields lanted with crops or grasses intended to remove some of the chemicals present in the liquid waste. Spraying projects large amounts of ammonia nitrogen into the air. This ammonia eventually rains down on land and water. Spraying also magnifies the odors from hog waste by sending millions of moisture droplets drifting through the air and across neighbors' properties.
Problems continue when waste settles on the field.
In theory, the grasses or crops should absorb the majority of the waste and its nitrogen-loaded contents. In reality, hog waste often cannot be efficiently absorbed in such enormous quantities. So the excess often washes off during rains and flows through ditches into nearby streams and rivers. The pollution eventually finds its way downriver to North Carolina's sensitive coastal waters, leading to water quality problems in important recreation areas and fish breeding grounds.