She’s an internet star for Earth Justice, Environmental Justice, Environmental Working Group, the Waterkeeper’s and operation R.E.A.C.H. She’s told her story on websites for Mother Jones, Policy Watch, Indy Week, Democracy Now, Raw Story, and in the film Right to Harm. She’s the voice of ‘environmental justice’ groups. The unofficial spokeswoman for lawyers suing hog farmers. She’s Mrs. Elsie Herring.
Elsie Herring’s Story
The story she tells goes like this: The hog farmer next door to her home sprays his field “three or four days on a slow week” – and sometimes “daily.” And occasionally “at night.” The odor is so bad she can’t go outside. She can’t sit on her porch. She’s trapped, a captive in her own home.It’s the dramatic tale of ‘the captive lady and a cruel farmer’ and Elsie Herring’s told it over and over for years.
The Truth About Hog Farmers
But there’s a problem.Every time the hog farmer sprays his field he has – by law – to keep a record for state inspectors to review. Here’s a photo of the farmer’s ledger:
Did he occasionally spray at night? No.Did he sometimes spray daily? No. Did he spray 3 or 4 times a week? No.In fact, over the last 6 months the farmer only sprayed on 2 days and, then, he only sprayed an average of 2 hours and 8 minutes each day.Recently, Mrs. Herring was back on the Internet. She’s told her story many times. A lot of people have heard it. But look at the facts. Look at the farmer’s ledger. Look at this video:
Go down to her home and look at the grove of trees between her house and the farmer’s field. The facts contradict her story. Why does she continue to tell it? We don’t know. But we do know the facts tell a different story.
Update: For the past 3 years, the field closest to Ms. Herring’s house has not been used. This increases the spray field distance to 900 feet—not 8 feet.
