State Regulators Told To Ignore Republican’s Disgusting, Unlicensed And Illegal Hog Farm

by Randa Morris February 

Republican state lawmaker Andy Holt dumped more than a half million gallons of hog waste from his unlicensed, illegal hog farm in Tennessee. According to documents obtained by WTVF in Nashville, state regulators were aware of Holt’s illegal farm and the contamination it was causing, but were told to ‘look the other way’ by superiors.
Unbelievably, Holt is the Vice Chair of the Tennessee House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. In 2011, a state inspector visited Holt’s unlicensed hog farm, which is home to at least 1,400 pigs. The inspector found dead hogs decomposing on the property and illegally dumped ‘hog waste’ which had completely contaminated a creek. The putrid black water stretched out for more than a mile. The inspector also discovered that Holt’s hog farm had been operating for years without the needed permits.
Following the visit, the inspector wrote:

“Several serious violations noted, but an EAR (Enforcement Action Review) was discouraged by upper management.”

At that time, Holt’s hog farm had already been operating illegally for two years. He continued to run the illegal operation until sometime near the end of 2014, when he claims he decided to shut it down.
WTFV, however, flew a plane over the property in January, capturing shocking footage of decomposing hogs, surrounded by vultures who were feasting on the carcass.
Emails from 2012 show state regulators referred to the lawmaker on a first name basis, and were very much aware of the health hazard the illegal operation presented to neighbors and the general public.
In fact, in 2012, one neighbor reported him to the state, after he sprayed hog manure onto her property. The neighbor was rightly upset, and undoubtedly concerned about the health hazards of having pig crap sprayed into the trees. State regulators waited three weeks to visit the site, at which time they said they were unable to verify it.
In another email, a state regulator wrote: “I wonder if Andy is disposing of dead hogs in an open pit again.”
Inspector’s documented everything from water contamination issues to failure to livestock grazing in the production area.
Interestingly enough, the federal Environmental Protection Agency began investigating Holt’s hog farm around the end of 2014, right around the time he says he decided to ‘get out of the hog business.’
On February 16, WTFV in Nashville interviewed Holt and state officials. Watch the video below:
Holt is disgusting. He has absolutely no concern for human health and safety. His number one concern is profit. He claims that government regulations are the problem. His hog farm gives us only a tiny glimpse at what the world would be like without them. Dead rotting pig carcasses. Sh*t in the trees. Black creeks. Food contaminated with God knows what diseases. No pesky regulators or inspectors to make sure the food supply isn’t filled with meat from sick and diseased animals. That’s the Republican wet dream for America. Free enterprise, meaning you’re free to spread all the hog sh*t you want wherever you want. Free to leave a hog’s dead, rotting carcasses lying around for months on end, all without interference from those pesky, meddlesome ‘big-evil-government’ rules.