Tyson Foods dumps millions of pounds of toxic pollutants into US rivers and lakes
Tyson Foods dumps millions of pounds of toxic pollutants into US rivers and lakes
Nitrogen, phosphorus, chloride, oil and cyanide among the 371m lb of pollutants released by just 41 plants in five years
Tyson Foods dumped millions of pounds of toxic pollutants directly into American rivers and lakes over the last five years, threatening critical ecosystems, endangering wildlife and human health, a new investigation reveals.
Nitrogen, phosphorus, chloride, oil and cyanide were among the 371m lb of pollutants released into waterways by just 41 Tyson slaughterhouses and mega processing plants between 2018 and 2022.
According to research by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), the contaminants were dispersed in 87bn gallons of wastewater – which also contains blood, bacteria and animal feces – and released directly into streams, rivers, lakes and wetlands relied on for drinking water, fishing and recreation. The UCS analysis, shared exclusively with the Guardian, is based on the most recent publicly available water pollution data Tyson is required to report under current regulations.
Last year Governor Jim Pillen, whose family owns one of America’s largest pork companies, was widely criticized for calling a Chinese-born journalist at Flatwater Free Press a “communist” after she exposed serious water quality violations at his hog farms. Earlier this month, the Nebraska supreme court ruled that the state environmental agency could charge the same investigative news outlet tens of thousands of dollars for a public records request about nitrates.
Everywhere I look there's a huge problem affecting all of us, and a republican doing everything in their power to make it worse.
Their mandate is to do harm.
calling a Chinese-born journalist at Flatwater Free Press a “communist” after she exposed serious water quality violations
This tactic works. "Chinese Disinformation! Don't trust it!" Americans eat this kind of dismissal up with a spoon, because its easier to believe in a sinister outside force that's trying (and failing) to threaten you than it is to realize the killer is in your own backyard and there's nothing you can do to stop his cleaver from claiming another victim.
Earlier this month, the Nebraska supreme court ruled that the state environmental agency could charge the same investigative news outlet tens of thousands of dollars for a public records request about nitrates.
The only thing amazing about the TikTok ban is that it didn't happen much sooner.
CCP and Republican™Political disinformation, propaganda, and bullying from multiple actors and entities can and do occur simultaneously.Very few, if any, political parties across the planet are benevolent to average citizens.
I wonder why the EPA is being gutted. Their ability to enforce regulations stripped (potentially soon) by the partisan, Federalist Society Supreme Cunt, ah sorry I meant to say court.
So that corps like this can operate in a way that harms us all. What the folks that run these companies don't get is that we are harming the environment, yes, but also humans ARE the environment. Including them and their families! Such shortsightedness.
The blood that flows through your veins is produced by water and minerals you consume through food, food that comes from animals and plants living in these areas and areas like them, animals that eat plants full of these pollutants watered by water full of the very same.
So in a (very direct) way, when corpo cunts dump toxic output into rivers, they're dumping it right into your veins.
HUMANS ARE THE ENVIRONMENT, WE ARE NOT SEPARATE FROM IT.
So next time you hear someone joking about environmental regulations, remember they are playing games with your body.
Gee, I wonder why cancer in young persons is booming. Well, at least we have adequa healthcare, not like we're just draining peoples' life savings for harm caused by this and things like this, right. Right?
Smh.
But hey, go out and look at the beautiful algae blooms this year. Not that we have a choice.
Two words: Chevron Deference. Forty years ago, SCOTUS ruled that a court defers to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, as long as the judge finds the interpretation to be reasonable.
Basically, Chevron said, “Trust us, what we’re doing is ok. We should know, because we’re experts in this field.” and the Supreme Court agreed. So now if the EPA brings up a corporation on charges, the corporation is its own expert witness in court.
That's just the processing plants for Tyson. Realize that they control their whole production chain. They hatch the chicks, sell or rent them to farmers, produce and sell the farmers the feed, then transport the grown chickens back to be processed.
They are truly a monstrous polluter.
Great timing on this article and a new episode about Tyson from one of my favorite podcasts
We can start right at the beginning with what happens with all the chicken shit.
Tyson isn't quite as an oppressive powerhouse in the Delmarva areas, but Perdue and Moutaire operates the same way.
Their claim to fame on the eastern shore is actually when they pulled out of Maryland and closed their feed mill and processing plant instead of competing. Everyone that was dependent on their chicken contracts got left holding their loans from starting their operations. Less pollution in the bay that way though.
The entire industry is designed to force externalities (like pollution and farmer loans) onto other people while ensuring a healthy margin at all points. Even if you don't look at the animal rights angle it's exploitative as fuck.
The wastewater was enough to fill about 132,000 Olympic-size pools, according to a Guardian analysis.
Can we please hold these fucks accountable?
Nope. Best we can do is a $100 fine.
So fucking revolting
I like how Olympic-size pool is such a universal unit of measurement lol. I remember looking for the number for how much waste nuclear power plants produce and it was something like the entire US produces half an Olympic-sized swimming pool of spent fuel annually.
Brought to you by the company that uses slave labor https://apnews.com/article/prison-to-plate-inmate-labor-investigation-c6f0eb4747963283316e494eadf08c4e
And child labor https://www.npr.org/2023/09/25/1201524399/child-labor-perdue-farms-tyson-foods-investigation
Can I get a list of companies that aren't pieces of shit? I think it'll be shorter.
Sure, here you go:
Thanks. I wrote it down so I won't forget.
oil and cyanide were among the 371m lb of pollutants
Why does a food producer even have these things?
What do you mean? They’re food additives in America.
Thank you for posting.
I am not surprised they did this, but I am surprised people are willing to eat Tyson foods. They have been awful for as long as I can remember.
I don't think most people know.
They mostly sell food to other food suppliers, caterers, restaurants and so on.
https://www.reuters.com/business/how-four-big-companies-control-us-beef-industry-2021-06-17/ Explainer: How four big companies control the U.S. beef industry
The big four processors in the U.S. beef sector are: Cargill (CARG.UL), a global commodity trader based in Minnesota; Tyson Foods Inc (TSN.N), the chicken producer that is the biggest U.S. meat company by sales; Brazil-based JBS SA, the world's biggest meatpacker; and National Beef Packing Co (NBEEF.UL), which is controlled by Brazilian beef producer Marfrig Global Foods SA.
It is perfectly moral to spoil Tyson products at the grocery store. They are rife with animal abuse, human rights abuse, and illegally dumping toxic waste. Nobody will fault you for accidentally ripping open their products and tossing them in the garbage.
What do they use cyanide for?
