Are We There Yet? Future Paths from the Past

North Carolina has experienced several periods of extremely rapid expansion in the number of animals raised for commercial purposes. Two of the most recent periods occurred in the late 1980’s with poultry (turkeys) and in the mid-1990s with hogs. This large expansion of the “animal inventory,” as tallied by the US Department of Agriculture, tells only part of the story about the effects of this growth and the impact of on the environment.

North Carolina’s most recent experience with the animal industry has focused on hog production, it’s rapid expansion and the subsequent moratorium that remains in effect today because of the environmental consequences. While the increase in ammonia emissions was substantial, North Carolina eventually regulated on the basis of nitrogen load (from the water quality perspective) and objectionable odor (from the air quality perspective). But the focus of the work under the Smithfield/ Premium Standards/ Frontline Agreements, conducted under the guidance of NC State University, focuses on the control of ammonia and the Environmentally Superior technologies identified and developed under the agreements should provide an array of choices for the control of ammonia.

From a regulatory standpoint, the number of factors to be considered have a much broader perspective than simply “controlling ammonia.” These factors include traditional air pollution issues such as PM-fine and ozone precursors, cross media transfer, and exposure levels resulting from emissions. More recently, issues like the cost for natural gas (as a feedstock for ammonia) and the increased demand for ammonia for NO_x reduction from combustion sources have entered the regulatory equation. This presentation looks at potential future regulatory issues as they deal with these broader energy, environmental and supply issue as well as some of impacts that the current data suggest for more traditional air pollution control strategies and approaches.