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This extensive review of state-collected water quality data from North Carolina, conducted by Dr. Dwayne R. Edwards from the University of Kentucky, was sponsored by Frontline Farmers, Inc., a group of North Carolina hog farmers. We are honored that Frontline Farmers have allowed us the privilege of hosting this paper on our website. The information contained herein conincides with the Center’s own water quality report, available below. The evidence against environmental alarmists is growning.

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The data discussed in this report indicate that nutrient levels in the Black and Northeast Cape Fear watersheds are elevated above levels expected prior to farming and livestock. However, these data also indicate that the impacts from intensive confinement hog farms (and the rapid expansion of the hog population during the 1980s and 1990s) do not appear to be as severe as previously believed. This suggests that the effects may be no greater than farming operations that have existed in these watersheds for decades.

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Evidence from America’s most intensive hog producing region indicate that large hog operations do not hurt water quality.