RALEIGH, NC. — State officials in North Carolina are investigating how tens of thousands of gallons of wastewater were released from a Murphy-Brown hog farm in Bladen County.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Division of Water Resources (DWR) stated recently that nearly 30,000 gallons of waste reached a creek close to the farm.

Murphy-Brown Farm, a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, said it notified the DWR of a wastewater pipe failure on Jan. 27.

“As soon as the discharge was discovered, farm personnel reported it to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Division of Water Resources and took immediate steps to stop the flow and contain and return the wastewater to the farm’s permitted system,” said Ray Atkinson, director of external communications for Smithfield. “Remediation efforts have been successful in capturing and returning the majority of the discharged material to the permitted system.”

DWR said the waste was observed 0.69 miles from the secondary containment on the facility. Waste in the creek appeared to be contained in the area by a beaver dam. Murphy-Brown initiated pumping to recover the waste during Jan. 27 and 28.

The agency said it would continue on-site inspections during clean up.