Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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JUNE 25 - JULY 1, 2014 UCW 17 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Take Rose Acre Farms in Hyde County. A national egg producer chose North Carolina to open a new facility in 2005. Management wanted a location on the East Coast located near population centers. They needed a source for grain to feed their chickens and eastern North Carolina farmers were happy to oblige. The compost the chickens produced would provide a steady fertilizer source for those farmers. And if Rose Acres could add a manure granulation plant later, there would be plenty of demand from North and South Carolina golf courses. The company did not seek any economic incentive money from the state, county or local governments even though they chose to locate in a third-tier county, where economic conditions are distressed and economic incentives are readily available. Rose Acre invested $75 million in buildings and equipment and offered employment to 150 people. The company provides internships for N.C. State students, coordinates with the local community college and reaches out to biology instructors at the local high schools. It spends $4.5 million on labor, $1.2 million on utilities, $250,000 on fuel, and $3.5 million on feed. From 2010-12, Rose Acres' shell egg sales were more than $175 million — contributing considerable tax revenue into state and local coffers. You could say it's a self-contained, self-financed economic generator in one of the most depressed economies in North Carolina. What could possibly go wrong? Government regulation, that's what. As with any company that uses live animals (and Rose Acre's Hyde County location has 3.5 million chickens in 14 chicken houses), there are water, air and ground pollution concerns. Rose Acre is subject to certain environmental regulations and government-approved permitting. With other facilities in several states, the management is aware of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state regulations. And management thought everything was taken care of — until 2011, when a five-year permit came up for renewal. The question surfaced of whether Rose Acre needed a water quality permit. EPA claimed it did; Rose Acre argued that it does not discharge pollutants into U.S. or state waters. There also is a question of whether the exhaust fans in the hen house blow enough feathers around to be considered pollution, or if ammonia from the chicken waste is polluting the air. Rose Acre claims there is no discharge and no need for additional permitting; EPA and the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources claim there is discharge, and Rose Acre needs permits. This is not a case or a question unique to North Carolina or to Rose Acre Farms. Several federal court cases over the last decade have begun to sort out the question of discharge, how much, where, and when — and what is the permitting trigger. The outcome of Rose Acre Farms' dilemma with EPA and DENR could affect the entire livestock industry in the country. Efforts have been made to reach a compromise between DENR and Rose Acre Farm, but negotiations fell apart. Since many of these permits must be renewed every five years, parties are hesitant to accept and adopt a compromise that will have to be re-negotiated in a few short years. Rose Acre Farms is caught in a web of regulation — and for what purpose? Regulations. Sometimes You Just Can't Win by BECKI GRAY BECKI GRAY, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910.484.6200. Your opinion is something we always want to hear. Call or email us your feedback. WE'RE ALL EARS Questions? Comments? Story Ideas? Let us know how we're doing. 208 Rowan St. Fayetteville, NC 28301 910.484.6200 www.upandcomingweekly.com