Robert F. Kenndy Jr. visits New Bern for Pure Farms - Pure Water Summit
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Speaking in New Bern
January 12, 2009, at 7:30 PM Riverfront Convention Center, New Bern, NC 28560 Join us for a BBQ Dinner at 6:00 PM with entertainment by Cold Biscuit. For information and to purchase tickets ($30) please click on the PDF document.
Pure Farms - Pure Water Summit Sponsored by Waterkeeper Alliance, Neuse River Foundation and Tar-Pamlico Riverkeeper Foundation
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.s visit to New Bern is part of the Pure Farms-Pure Water Summit scheduled for January 12 14, 2009 at the New Bern Convention Center. Mr. Kennedy will give the keynote on January 12.
The purpose of this summit is to bring together advocates from across the country for the purpose of sharing ideas and techniques that have proved successful in eliminating pollution in industrial animal production.
Unlike traditional family farms, industrial farms that raise swine, poultry and dairy products significantly pollute our water and air. They can also pose a serious threat to the health of citizens living in nearby communities. In North Carolina there are ten million swine being produced in confinement buildings, mostly located east of highway I-95. These animals almost never see the light of day. They live their short lives jam-packed in barns full of horrific odors. These ten million swine produce more fecal waste in a DAY than is produced in a day by all the people (COMBINED) in North Carolina, California, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and North Dakota. This fecal waste is stored in open lagoons (cesspools), some of which are larger than football fields. Their numbers are in the thousands and their use and locations represent a serious threat to North Carolinas rivers and streams. When these so-called lagoons fill up, their waste is sprayed on fields under the pretext of growing crops. Many of these fields have pipes under their surfaces that can carry swine pollution to nearby ditches and on to our streams and rivers.
Most people are under the assumption that the NC General Assembly has banned lagoons and ordered their replacement with approved alternative technologies. Nothing could be further from the truth. In legislation passed just a little over a year ago, our legislators grandfathered all existing lagoons and even provided a measure for their replacement with a new lagoon, when they are found to be failing and pose a threat to public health. The Summit is being held to find solutions to these problems.
It you are interested in attending the three day Summit, you can register on line at:
ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is founder and chairman of Waterkeeper Alliance, an organization that licenses riverkeepers and other waterkeepers throughout the world. There are nearly 200 such waterkeepers restoring and protecting public trust waters, including 13 in North Carolina. These waterkeepers patrol their watershed by air, ground and water. They locate sources of pollution and eliminate them using every available means, including litigation. Today, Waterkeeper Alliance is the fastest growing environmental movement in the world.
Mr. Kennedy is a distinguished author and among his many books is Crimes Against Nature, a book that details the failed environmental policies of President George W. Bush. He is also a Clinical Professor and Supervising Attorney at the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic at Pace Law School in White Plains, New York and is co-host of Ring of Fire on Air America. Earlier in his career he served as Assistant District Attorney in New York City. He has worked for over two decades on environmental issues across the globe and has assisted several indigenous tribes in Latin America and Canada in successfully negotiating treaties protecting traditional homelands.
