A ruling by the N.C. Court of Appeals this month could mean more money for cash-strapped schools across the state. But environmentalist fear the decision -- while widely viewed as a battle between the legislative and executive branches of state government over who should control the purse strings -- also could mean less money for projects aimed at protecting and enhancing water quality, especially in Eastern North Carolina.
The legal question involves who should control funds collected by the state from North Carolina’s largest hog producer. Dubbed the Smithfield Agreement, the deal hammered out in 2000 was a result of years of wrangling between the state and the company over water quality woes and other problems associated with the open-air hog waste lagoons at Smithfield's farms, primarily located in Eastern North Carolina's coastal plain. The issue came to a head during 1999's Hurricane Floyd, when the storm's record-setting rainfalls sent the waste from many hog lagoons washing into streams and rivers.