Friends of the Earth Condemns North Carolina’s Farm Act
RALEIGH– North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D), today signed Senate Bill 605, the Farm Act of 2021, after the bill was rushed through the legislature.
This bill creates a one-size-fits-all, fast-tracked permit for a variety of “digester” technologies, limits community input and agency review of proposed projects, weakens long-standing siting restrictions, and removes tax incentives for the installation of environmentally superior waste management technology.
Gov. Cooper, a self-proclaimed ally for environmental justice in North Carolina, failed to listen to more than 600 groups that called attention to the Farm Act’s disregard for the environmental impacts that outdated waste management industrial operations have on communities of color.
Donna Chavis, Senior Climate Campaigner with Friends of the Earth issued the following statement in response:
In signing the Farm Act, Gov. Cooper and our elected officials in North Carolina have bowed to corporate pressure and disregarded the communities on the frontline of these outdated and environmentally disastrous operations. It is unacceptable that a leader who claims to value our voices chose to sell us out to the highest bidder.
Senate Bill 605 is designed to entrench waste management practices that for decades have deprived communities of color, who are disproportionately harmed by these operations, of equal protection from industrial pollution. The outdated lagoon and sprayfield system used to manage waste at industrial hog operations has been shown to pollute water and air, harm public health, and diminish the use and enjoyment of neighboring properties.
Communications Contact: Kerry Skiff, (202) 222-0723, [email protected]