South Central Agriculturalists for the Environment (SAFE) drew about 75 people Tuesday evening to its first in a series of informational meetings. The first session focusing on confined animal production issues.
Six local panelists addressed issues ranging from land values to air quality to free-range hog production in the two-hour session.
SAFE chairman Tucker Watkins told the crowd that the organization came into being in response to "misinformation" about confined feeding issues.
"We want the correct information to get to the supervisors and the planning commission," said Watkins.
The planning commission is currently studying setbacks and other hog production issues and is expected to make a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors this year.
The SAFE chairman said that some honest concerns have come up and people with experience in those fields were going to talk about the issues.
"It is not about hog farming but about confined animal feeding," he added. "And this is one of many agricultural issues we want to address." Watkins said SAFE wanted to present "scientific fact" to officials and the public.
However, the close of the information session drew several questions and concerns from the audience, one that the session reflected a pro-hog bias.
"I am disappointed with what I have heard here tonight," said Wayne Dudley as the panel session ended.
One complaint, "I prefer experts, not just personal opinions."
Jimmy Smiley said he was concerned about water contamination.
"Trying to find the real truth," emphasized Smiley following the meeting.
"It seems everybody picks what's convenient to put out," he added, citing lagoons as an example. During a prior hog meeting, Smiley said a speaker from a North Carolina university said that all lagoons leak and some more than others. "It seems the supervisors and planning commission ignored that.
"I am concerned about the future of the county and the environment," he added, citing the negative impact hog odor would have on him if he were a CEO investigating the area.
Audience concerns included nitrates, fecal coliform in the water, airborne disease, and questions concerning nutrient management plans.
Watkins told the crowd he wanted to address any issue brought before the group and that he would try to get experts.
The SAFE chairman said he hoped to have an expert on lagoon issues at the next SAFE meeting. He later identified the speaker as Dr. Mike Williams of North Carolina State's Animal and Poultry Waste Management Center.
Speakers and their topics at the Tuesday night session included: Don Reese, Confined versus Free Range Hog Production; Billy Wooding, Land Application; Vernon Emswiler, Land Values; Billy Milam, Water Quality; Vernon Emswiler, Quality of Life.
Reese, a Scottsburg farmer, told the audience that it would take 14 million acres to raise free ranging hogs.
Confined hogs protect water quality, said Reese, with waste stored in lagoons to prevent overflow, spills and leaks into groundwater.
The farmer described confined hogs as "clean, dry and healthy" in the production process.
The Scottsburg man said he feared for agriculture. "To save the family farm, give a choice, whether free range or a confinement system," said Reese. "Give family farms less regulation and more independence."
Addressing air quality, Union Community farmer and confined hog producer Harry Martin said that an agriculture engineer told him that when a woman opens household ammonia and is exposed to it, she would have to sit by a hog lagoon all day long to get the same ammonia.
Martin also made the point that Duplin County, NC has more hogs and turkeys than any other county in North Carolina, as well as a large population of chickens and beef cattle. He said eastern North Carolina may have a problem, "but it is not all hogs."
Martin also targeted "exaggerated reports" in the news media and said not to depend on them.
Vernon Emswiler said he had people calling to ask him to sell land for house sites. "There's never a word about the hog farm," said Emswiler of the hog farm he described as sitting right in the middle of the land. "The one I live by, the smell is not offensive," added the speaker.
"I can tell you it does not affect the value of land," said the speaker.
Billy Wooding, a county confined hog producer, told the crowd that state required nutrient management plans to keep the land from being over applied with nutrients.
When asked by an audience member how long the odor lasts when he applies the hog waste to his land, Wooding replied, "I would be willing to say you could walk behind me and eat a sandwich."
Fresh plowed ground odor was Wooding's description of the application afterward. "Actually, I have seen kids ride 4-wheelers right behind me," said the farmer.
Wooding said lagoons are used for storage of hog waste and to provide an atmosphere for nutrient breakdown. He said they must be designed by a professional engineer and inspected, have adequate storage volume for the operation, account for rain and be constructed to withstand a 24-hour/25-year storm event, and have prescribed permeability rate and not be built in a flood plain.
Replying to a lagoon odor question, Dr. Allen Harper, an extension specialist in animal science with Virginia Tech, said that odor complaints often involve new lagoons with small working volume.
New lagoons must fill one-third to one-half to charge the lagoon, the audience learned.
Also addressing lagoon odor, Wooding said that when a lagoon cools in the fall the microbe action slows, and then in March and April the lagoon warms up and excites the action. During those times he said lagoons may have odor.
During the session, the SAFE chairman described fecal coliform as a red herring in the hog production issue discussion. He said he had wondered why it was okay to have a septic tank designed to leak, and that he had investigated the issue and learned that "fecal coliform dies in the dirt."
In response to a question from the audience asking how much water in a 24-hour/25 year event (which lagoons are designed to withstand), Bobby Long, a nutrient management specialist with the Department of Conservation and Recreation, said he thought about six inches of storage.
Long, who told the audience it was his understanding he was not to make a presentation at the SAFE session, added, however, that he would be happy to answer questions.
Long addressed a variety of new regulations.
On lagoon closure, he said plans are now included with the owner having to designate what he will do with the lagoon if closed, whether fill it in or convert it to fresh water pond, if closed.
Long said he did not know what it would cost to close a lagoon and that he had not been involved in a closure. He added he had heard figures from $30,000 to $250,000.
Watkins said SAFE has sought a bid on closing a lagoon with an environmental company and yet another bid from a contractor to try to determine the true cost as a means to learn and present the facts on closure costs.
Long also told the audience that since July 1 of last year, there is a provision that anyone who is going to put in a confined animal feeding operation that requires a permit notify all adjoining landowners of that intent.
"Those people have 30 days after the person submits the registration statement with DEQ to send in written comment on the operation," said Long.
On new regulations in North Carolina, Martin warned that now dairies in that state must have nutrient management plans just as hog producers must, creating a negative impact and resulting in a tremendous loss of dairies.
Addressing water quality, cattle producer Billy Milam - citing a report published in 1996 by the NCSU Biological and Agricultural Engineering Extension Specialists, Sampson County Cooperative Extension Service, Sampson County Health Dept. - told the audience research shows Sampson County, a large swine producer in North Carolina, has had no significant change in ground water quality in the last six years.
Milam cited the following:
"In 1990, Sampson County well samples showed that 72 percent of the wells had less than 4 parts per million of nitrate nitrogen, well below federal guidelines (of 10 ppm or less). Another 23 percent of the wells had four to nine ppm of nitrate nitrogen, and only five percent had 10 ppm or greater.
"A follow-up study in 1996 sampled the same 214 Sampson County drinking wells, and the results showed that 68 percent of the wells had less than 4 ppm, 26 percent had four to nine ppm, and again, only six percent of the drinking wells had 10 ppm or greater.
"Overall, in 1990, 95 percent of the wells had acceptable level of nitrate nitrogen; and in 1996, 94 percent of the same wells still had acceptable levels," advised Milam.
He also said all of the wells that tested 10 ppm or higher were shallow wells--50 feet deep or less.
"Even though agriculture has more than doubled in the last six years, the ground water quality of Sampson County has not changed," said the farmer.
Milam described Sampson County as the top agriculture producing county in North Carolina and one of the top 50 counties in the nation with 40 different agricultural commodities produced commercially along with 2.3 million market hogs and 20 million turkeys and chickens.
Milam also told the audience there are over 60,000 hogs in Virginia Beach, which draws millions of tourists, with little or no complaint.
"It is not that I am trying to down play water pollution, but a lot of fingers are being pointed at the agriculture industry as a whole and there are a lot of other sources that are doing it that never get addressed in the public eye," explained Milam following the Tuesday session. He cited municipal waste, lawn and garden fertilizers, underground storage tanks and septic tanks as examples.

Judge William Wellons described him as "a danger to society" before sentencing 58-year old Wesley Betterton of Nathalie to 25 years in prison for raping and sodomizing his own teenage daughter and niece and forcing them both to become prostitutes.
Betterton showed no emotion Wednesday as he was arraigned and then pleaded guilty to the crimes which often took place inside his own trailer.
In a plea agreement in Halifax Circuit Court, Betterton was sentenced to a total of 25 years on 18 counts of rape, forcible sodomy and taking or detaining for prostitution the girls whose ages were 14 and 15.
For the crimes he committed, Betterton could have received 446 years in prison based on sentencing guidelines. Given Betterton's age, Judge Wellons said the 25 years "may very well be a life sentence" .
The plea arrangement, said Wellons, kept the victims and other family members from having to testify and in the case of the daughter, her own father. "I hope these victims can put their lives back together," the judge said.
His daughter is now in a foster home, her cousin has moved away from the area with her mother and Betterton's 11-year old son now lives with his mother. Betterton's other son, age 32, along with other members of the family, were all prepared to testify against him.
It all started last June when Betterton's daughter met for the first time her cousin at a local flea market and they decided to "sleep over" at Betterton's house.
In summarizing the evidence, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Petra Blanchard told how Betterton had asked his niece if she wanted to join a sex club and earn money in exchange for sexual acts. Blanchard said Betterton promised her that he would give her some of the money.
For three weeks, Betterton kept his niece at his house while her mother thought she was away at camp. While at his house, he told her that he needed to "look her over" for any moles or other imperfections.
Betterton, said the prosecutor, then "showed her" what she would have to do and forced her to have sex on five separate occasions between June 1 and July 13.
During the same time, Betterton raped and sodomized his daughter..
The prosecutor told how Betterton took the girls to flea markets in Pittsylvania County at Dry Fork and Ringgold where he arranged for them to have sex with Mexican migrant workers. In exchange for some variations of sex, the girls were generally paid $25 and on occasions, were given tips that amounted to as much as $75.
The money was turned over to Betteron.
This went on for every weekend and sometimes during the week from early June to mid July.
Some neighbors became suspicious to the activities around Betterton's trailer and when police raided the scene, they found several Mexicans drunk and the two girls wearing only their underwear and t-shirts.
For the five counts of rape and forcible sodomy, Betterton was given 25 years in prison for each offense. The eight counts of prostitution carried 10-year sentences each and all the time will be serve concurrently.
Should he ever be released from prison, Betterton must register his whereabouts with the Virginia State Police and that information is available to the public.

By ESTES THOMPSON
Associated Press Writer
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) - R.J. Reynolds balked Wednesday at joining a tobacco industry plan to create a $5.15 billion trust fund for farmers harmed by the landmark tobacco settlement, jeopardizing the bailout proposal.
Representatives from 11 states and four tobacco companies, including R.J. Reynolds, met at a Durham hotel to discuss the fund only to learn R.J. Reynolds had decided not to participate. Instead, it wants to help farmers by pledging to buy more tobacco from them over the next decade.
''We told the governors we are not in a position to join the trust fund,'' said Tommy Payne, an R.J. Reynolds senior vice president. ''We're going to buy more leaf. ... I do not anticipate that that's going to change.''
The group agreed to reconvene Thursday, when it will meet with Stephen Goldstone, RJR Nabisco's chief executive officer.
''Reynolds has to live up to their obligation,'' said Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton. ''We believe that they have made an agreement and they have an obligation to live up to that agreement. There's plenty of witnesses to it.''
Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore said he came to the meeting thinking ''we've got a deal. We think we always had a deal. It's one to support the farming community and in Virginia's case the manufacturing workers and we still think that we have one.''
Steven Parrish, a Philip Morris senior vice president, said without the participation of all four tobacco companies, the trust fund was doomed.
''If we don't have all four companies participating fully in the 10-year trust fund, it will break down,'' he said. Parrish said whatever happens, Philip Morris would honor the commitment it made last week to make an initial, $300 million payment into the trust fund and hope the other companies followed suit.
North Carolina Gov. Jim Hunt said he and others were under the impression a trust fund was part of the $206 billion master settlement tobacco companies reached in November with 46 states to pay the cost of treating sick smokers.
''Everybody here agrees except the R.J. Reynolds Co. Everybody agrees that was the understanding. That was a commitment. And the states have relied on that, the farmers have relied on it. They need this money desperately in order to make ends meet this year,'' the governor said.
The landmark settlement required the cigarette companies to meet with tobacco state representatives to discuss how to help farmers and communities that the settlement will harm. The first meeting was held last month.
Payne said R.J. Reynolds believes buying more tobacco is the best way to help farmers withstand the ill effects of the $206 billion tobacco settlement reached in November. Previously, the tobacco companies also reached a $40 billion deal with four other states.
He also said his company has concerns about how the trust fund money would be spent and whether it might raise antitrust issues. But Reynolds' plan to buy more tobacco would not pose such problems because antitrust laws ''do not preclude companies from coming to independent decisions.''
''I don't see any way the trust fund will survive without all of the companies participating in it,'' Parrish said.
He said Philip Morris officials did not think buying more tobacco would help the farmers as much as the trust fund.
The other two companies, Brown & Williamson and Lorillard, have neither committed to nor refused to participate in the fund.
Payne said the trust fund and R.J. Reynolds' plan to buy more tobacco could coexist, and he did not think his company's refusal to participate in the fund will stop the talks that resumed Wednesday.
''We don't see the trust fund and a leaf plan as mutually exclusive,'' he said. ''I would not preclude a scenario where you would have participation in a trust fund and participation in leaf purchases.''
States participating in the discussions are North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia.

Doing something "real stupid" has turned out to be real costly for five young men who all pleaded guilty in Halifax Circuit Court Wednesday to acts of vandalism involving egging and spray painting of cars, public streets and Halifax County High School last September.
Three of the five now have felony criminal records and in addition to having to make restitution to the victims, face possible jail time when sentencing takes place in the next term of Circuit Court.
Guilty of one felony in connection with defacing public property and 12 misdemeanor counts of defacing or tampering with property are 19-year old Jamie Allen Seamster of 1038 Good Trail, South Boston, Richard Gus Wells, 19, of 199 Indian Trail Road, Buffalo Junction and 20-year old Bryan Edward Hunt of 309 Yates Street, South Boston.
Two other codefendants, Curtis Durant Mills Jr., 19, of 702 Berry Hill Road, South Boston and 21-year old Derek Brent Daniel of Daniel Trail, Halifax, were convicted of misdemeanors in connection with defacing vehicles and other property. Mills and Daniel broke away from the other three codefendants who went on to deface Halifax County High School.
For their crimes, Mills and Daniel were given 60 days (suspended) on each of four counts, ordered to make restitution to the victims who were Bill Moore, John Vaughan, Jason Owen, Thomas Carden and Al Graves, the total of amount which could exceed $1,800.
Mills and Daniel were each fined $100, placed under supervision of the courts until the restitution is made and will be required to perform 100 hours each of community service along with paying the cost of court.

"This only a drop in the bucket" to the inconveniences the victims of these crimes have experienced Judge Wellons told the pair. "I hope you have learned a valuable lesson."
The acts of vandalism were not only stupid, but flawed from the start. Commonwealth's Attorney John Greenbacker described how the five had decided to go out and egg and spray paint various locations and targeted certain individuals in and around South Boston on the night of September 20.
Their victims included some individuals with whom they may have had differences.
They went to WalMart where they purchased as many as four dozen eggs and cans of blue and gold spray paint. Their purchases were captured on video and two store clerks were later able to identify at least two of the codefendants as having been in the store that night.
The five then congregated in the parking lot and were observed by Jason Gordon who, said Greenbacker, figured "these fellows were up to no good."
Gordon got the license numbers and notified police.
At least two of the cars were used in the spree which carried them to the Merritt Hills Subdivision where one of the codefendants, Bryan Edward Hunt, lives.
In Merritt Hills, they spray painted on the streets the names and phone numbers of a couple of young ladies with the message, "call them for cheap sex."
But the worst damage came at Halifax County High School where graffiti was spread on exterior walls and walkways which cleanup and removal cost more than $1,300.
Greenbacker credited the cooperation of defendant Jamie Allen Seamster who gave a full statement of the acts and the names of those involved.
Greenbacker asked Judge Wellons to revoke the bonds of Hunt and Wells because of their roles in the crimes, in particular, the spray painting of names of girls and messages of racial hatred at the high school.
Judge Wellons allowed both to remain free on bond until sentencing.
In other court cases, Judge Wellons found guilty Phillip Orlando Wheatley, 31, of manufacturing a Schedule II controlled substance and conspiring to manufacture, sell, give or distribute cocaine on July 19, 1996. Wheatley, already serving time for separate offenses, will remain in jail until sentenced in the next term of court.
Kenneth Dale Wilborne Jr.. was found guilty of assault and battery of Wendy Moore and given a suspended 12-month jail sentence.
He was ordered to be of good behavior for 12 months and have no contact with the victim.

A police probe into complaints of a loud party in the area of Watkins Avenue and Poplar Creek Street early Wednesday morning led to the arrest of a 17-year-old youth on drug and weapons charges.
Juvenile petitions have been issued charging the male juvenile with a felony charge of selling, giving, distributing, or possessing more than one half ounce but less than five pounds of marijuana with the intent to distribute.
In addition, the youth was charged with unlawfully possessing a handgun while under the age of 18 and carrying a concealed weapon.
The two weapons charges were filed after police officers found that the youth was carrying a concealed .22 caliber revolver.
South Boston Police Chief Jim Hall said the youth is being held in the W.W. Moore Detention Center in Danville.
Chief Hall explained that numerous complaints were received from citizens concerning a loud party that was going on in the vicinity of Watkins Avenue and Poplar Creek Street at about 1 a.m. Wednesday.
Officers Don McGregor, Daniel Fletcher, Daniel Frazier, and Brian Lovelace went to the area to investigate. After investigating the situation, Officer McGregor arrested the youth on the three charges.
"I appreciate the citizens for letting us know when there is a problem in their areas," Chief Hall said.
"This shows me that our Neighborhood Watch is working. I encourage citizens to call whenever they need our assistance."
"We encourage citizens to review crimes which will be highlighted through Crime Stoppers weekly," added Chief Hall.
"Persons giving information to Crime Stoppers about a crime can receive a reward up to $1,000 for information resulting in an arrest and conviction. You do not have to give your name."
The local Crime Stoppers telephone number is 575-8477 (TIPS) or 476-8477 (TIPS)

Several persons have been reported injured as a result of vehicle crashes on county roadways this week including a two-vehicle accident on US 58 west of South Boston late Wednesday afternoon.
Reported injured was 24-year old George Wesley Garrett Jr. of South Boston who was operating a 1980 Chevrolet which was westbound.
The second vehicle was a 1991 Ford being driven by Loretta W. Bailey, 39, of Red Oak. State Police say Bailey pulled out of business driveway into the path of the Garrett car causing an estimated $3,500 in damages.
Bailey was charged with failure to yield the right of way.
In a single-vehicle crash Tuesday, 22-year old Christopher J. Whitlow was injured when his 1995 Chevrolet ran off Highway 610 and overturned several times.
Whitlow was charged with reckless driving and failing to keep his vehicle under control by Trooper D.T. Conner.
Two vans were involved in another Tuesday accident on Route 501 at its intersection with Highway 654. Drivers were listed as 50-year old Marilyn Bennett Mitchell of Halifax and 50-year old Nancy L. Kendrick of South Boston.
Police said the Mitchell vehicle ran into the rear of the Kendrick van causing injury to the driver. No damages nor charges were filed.
In a belated report, State Police identified the victim of a Tuesday accident which claimed the live of 58-year old Berkley T. Bruce of South Boston. Bruce died instantly when his vehicle was struck by a tractor-trailer rig being operated by 54-year old James Muse of Richmond.
Damages to both vehicles were estimated at $65,000 and cleanup of the wreckage took hours and caused eastbound Route 58 traffic to be detoured meanwhile.

William Alexander Abbott Sr. of 3070 Howard P. Anderson Road, Halifax died Tuesday, January 19, 1999 at Halifax Regional Hospital. He was 77 years of age.
Mr. Abbott was born in Halifax County on October 21, 1921 the son of John Robertson Abbott and Reba Walker Abbott and was married to Odell Tune Abbott. He was a member of Winns Creek Baptist Church where he was a choir member, Sunday School teacher and a deacon. He was a member of Bethel Ruritan Club and Halifax Sportsman's Club. He was a retired tobacconist with Liggett-Myers Tobacco Company.
Survivors include his wife; two daughters, Sara Abbott Bradshaw of Richmond and Rebecca Abbott Wagner of Danville; one son, William 'Bill' Alexander Abbott Jr. of Halifax; and seven grandchildren. He was preceded in death by two half sisters, Bessie Abbott Crafton and Edith Abbott Guthrie.
Funeral services for Mr. Abbott will be held today, January 22 at 2 p.m. at Winns Creek Baptist Church with Revs. Tim Madison and Richard Welch conducting the service. Burial will take place in the church cemetery.

Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider Halifax County Cancer Association or a charity of your choice.

Ethel Mae Jennings Cook of 1054 Cook Lane, Nathalie died Tuesday, January 19, 1999 at Halifax Regional Hospital. She was 81 years of age.
Mrs. Cook was born in Halifax County on June 20, 1917 the daughter of H.E. Jennings and Lelia Coates Jennings and was married to Lawrence Cook. She was a member of Ellis Creek Baptist Church.
Survivors include one daughter and son-in-law, Mary Cook Saunders and S.R. Saunders of Nathalie; one son and daughter-in-law, Henry B. Cook and Brenda H. Cook of Nathalie; two sisters, Virginia McKinney of Halifax and Katie Crews of South Boston; two brothers, Herbert Jennings and Charlie Jennings, both of Nathalie; eight grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, one sister, Rosa Hailey, and two brothers, Claudie Jennings and Albert Jennings.
Funeral services for Mrs. Cook will be held today, January 22 at 11 a.m. at Ellis Creek Baptist Church with Revs. Robert Breckenridge and Paul Mandel conducting the service. Burial will take place in the church cemetery.
The family will receive friends at the home.

Wilbert Odell 'Jim' Carrington of 284 Witcher Road, Ringgold, died Tuesday, January 19, 1999 at Danville Memorial Hospital at the age of 57.
Mr. Carrington was born in Halifax County on December 12, 1941 the son of William Carrington and Priscella Hamlett Carrington. He was a member of Mason Chapel Baptist Church.
Survivors include one daughter, Sharay Carrington of Brooklyn, NY; one sister, Clariece Berry of Tampa, FL; and one brother, Cornelius Carrington of Ringgold.
Funeral services for Mr. Carrington will be held Saturday, January 23 at 1 p.m. at Mason Chapel Baptist Church with Rev. Ronald Claiborne officiating.
The family will receive friends this evening, January 22 from 6:00 until 8:00.