The N.C. General Assembly pushed that issue - which touches on the quality of the environment and of life in eastern North Carolina - to next year's agenda.

Two major proposals, one backed largely by environmentalists and the other by the pork industry, went nowhere.

North Carolina is the leading producer of pork, and the farms that grow the hogs are predominantly east of Interstate 95. For nearly 10 years, the state has struggled with how to reap the economic advantages from a fast-growing agricultural business while minimizing the threat to the region's air, land and water.

A six-year, $17 million N.C. State University study funded by pork producers through a settlement with the state looked at promising technologies. All that work was to find one thing - an alternative to the open-air lagoons that store waste on the state's pig farms. They risk polluting ground water and streams if retaining walls break or heavy rains overfill them.

Source: Star News Online