Quartz highlights the story of 500 residents in eastern North Carolina who have filed suit against Murphy Brown, the pork production arm of Smithfield Foods, which they claim has subjected them to nearly unlivable conditions. A recent feature inhighlights the story of 500 residents in eastern North Carolina who have filed suit against Murphy Brown, the pork production arm of Smithfield Foods, which they claim has subjected them to nearly unlivable conditions.





The author explains, “They’re seeking damages over the cesspools, or lagoons as the industry calls them—uncovered earthen storage pools of waste. The complainants say the lagoons disrupt their lives and devalue their properties.”





North Carolina is the second-largest pork producer in the United States, and residents in Duplin County are especially affected:





Home to about 530 hog operations with capacity for over 2 million pigs, it has one of the highest concentrations of large, tightly-controlled indoor hog operations, also known as CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) in the world. Here in Duplin, hogs outnumber humans almost 32 to 1.





At its core, this fight is against environmental injustice and the disproportionate oppression of communities of color.



