The Scoop On Pig Poop

Jerry Niese is a hydro-bio-mass application engineer. Why is his job important? Take a look.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• pig
• pork
• factory
• farm
• manure
• stink
• smell
• odor
• poop
• farmer
• pump
• tractor
• family
• producer
• spread
• ecology
• organic
• fertilizer
• responsible

[buyUSA9808]

I wouldn't even bother arguing with her. Trust me, she's perfectly happy believing only what she wants.

[DrBird735]

Ammonia is reduced from air release via the method of direct sub soil injection shown in this video. My research has shown that ammonia levels leaving animal barns drops significantly as you move further away from the barn. Since Ammonia is considered a trace element of our atmosphere (78% nitrogen + 21% oxygen), I question your logic here. The big problem lies with human waste treatment, and direct (source point) dumping into waterways.

[ContaMuir17a]

Ammonia, a toxic form of nitrogen released in gas form during waste disposal, can be carried more than 300 miles through the air before being dumped back onto the ground or into the water, where it causes algal blooms and fish kills.

-- NRDC

[ContaMuir17a]

Nutrients in animal waste cause algal blooms, which use up oxygen in the water, contributing to a "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico where there's not enough oxygen to support aquatic life. The dead zone fluctuates in size each year, extending over 5,800 square miles during the summer of 2004 and stretching over 7,700 square miles during the summer of 1999.

[ContaMuir17a]

When Hurricane Floyd hit North Carolina in 1999, at least five manure lagoons burst and approximately 47 lagoons were completely flooded.

Runoff of chicken and hog waste from factory farms in Maryland and North Carolina is believed to have contributed to outbreaks of Pfiesteria piscicida, killing millions of fish and causing skin irritation, short-term memory loss and other cognitive problems in local people.

[ContaMuir17a]

Huge open-air waste lagoons, often as big as several football fields, are prone to leaks and spills. In 1995 an eight-acre hog-waste lagoon in North Carolina burst, spilling 25 million gallons of manure into the New River. The spill killed about 10 million fish and closed 364,000 acres of coastal wetlands to shellfishing.

From 1995 to 1998, 1,000 spills or pollution incidents occurred at livestock feedlots in 10 states and 200 manure-related fish kills resulted in the death of 13 million fish.

[ContaMuir17a]

This widespread use of antibiotics on animals contributes to the rise of resistant bacteria, making it harder to treat human illnesses. * Large hog farms emit hydrogen sulfide, a gas that most often causes flu-like symptoms in humans, but at high concentrations can lead to brain damage. In 1998, the National Institute of Health reported that 19 people died as a result of hydrogen sulfide emissions from manure pits.

[ContaMuir17a]

Manure from dairy cows is thought to have contributed to the disastrous Cryptosporidium contamination of Milwaukee's drinking water in 1993, which killed more than 100 people, made 400,000 sick and resulted in $37 million in lost wages and productivity.

In this country, roughly 24 million pounds of antibiotics -- about 70 percent of the nation's antibiotics use in total -- are added to animal feed every year to speed livestock growth.

[ContaMuir17a]

More than 40 diseases can be transferred to humans through manure.

# In May 2000, 1,300 cases of gastroenteritis were reported and six people died as the result of E. coli contaminating drinking water in Walkerton, Ontario. Health authorities determined that the most likely source was cattle manure runoff. -- NRDC

[ContaMuir17a]

In 1996 the Centers for Disease Control established a link between spontaneous abortions and high nitrate levels in Indiana drinking water wells located close to feedlots.

High levels of nitrates in drinking water also increase the risk of methemoglobinemia, or "blue-baby syndrome," which can kill infants.

Animal waste contains disease-causing pathogens, such as Salmonella, E. coli, Cryptosporidium, and fecal coliform, which can be 10 to 100 times more concentrated than in human waste. -- NRDC