The report, released by NCPIRG on Tuesday, found that North Carolina has the highest levels in the country of toxic pollutants that are linked to developmental delays.
Nitrates accounted for more than 90% of those toxins by weight, mostly from animal processing plants and petroleum refiners.
Cape Fear Riverkeeper Kemp Burdette said animal waste from the large number of hog farms in North Carolina is a big factor in nitrate pollution of the Cape Fear River.
The report was released a day after the Supreme Court heard a case that could limit the scope of the Clean Water Act. Katie Craig, state director of the NCPIRG Education Fund, said that would be a backslide.
"We need to be moving towards safer, healthier, cleaner water and not sliding backwards," she said. "Our waterways should be safe for drinking, swimming, fishing and everything else.”
Burdette said that even as it stands right now, the Clean Water Act is nowhere near accomplishing its goal of making every waterway in the US fishable, swimmable and drinkable. That was supposed to happen by 1985.
The report used data from industrial facilities that have to self-report pollutants to the EPA. Since the report relies on industry data, Craig said there could be other toxins in our waterways that aren’t accounted for.
