Tyson Busted for Polluting River--Again

Written by PETA

Posted 08-25-2009

9 Comments

wonkroom.thinkprogress / CC

Oops, they did it again. Tyson Fresh Meats, a subsidiary of Tyson Foods, has been fined $2 million for pumping untreated animal waste (to the tune of 5 million gallons a day) into the Missouri River. The reason for the fine is that they agreed in 2002 to knock it off and, well, they didn't.

It's a given that cows on factory farms are forced to live most of their lives in feces-filled holding pens, and it was so nice of Tyson to share that crap with everyone who relies on the Missouri river for drinking and bathing water.

And if you think this is an isolated case, think again. In 2002, a Cargill-owned hog farm was fined $1 million for illegally dumping animal waste, and Smithfield Foods, the world's largest hog producer, has been fined $12.6 million for polluting the Pagan River, just to name a couple of examples.

Of course, water pollution is just one of the many ways that factory farming wreaks havoc on the environment. Don't even get us started on greenhouse-gas emissions, deforestation, and wasted fossil fuels.

Written by Alisa Mullins

Tags:

vegetarian, fines, gross, pollution, feces, Leonard Cohen, The Exorcist, New Yorker, Harry Bliss, Tyson Fresh Meats, Tyson Foods, Missouri River, crap

Recent Comments

Saucy commented:

9-1-2009 10:31 AM

Go Meg! Let's flood the market with books from every angle until they get it. Save those who can be saved.
Susan commented:

8-27-2009 3:39 AM

Oh come on Chris. No one has the right to tell anyone where they can build a multimillion dollar revenue generating company. There's your clue. Though I can't imagine why no one is regulating them and that they are allowed to do this shut them down. Make them pay to clean up the river and don't allow them to reopen until the river is clean. Sounds like a fair solution.
elaine commented:

8-26-2009 12:35 PM

Thanks for posting the story sad that these stories are generally not as widelyread as say Madonna's divorce or the Yankee's latest win or loss...
Joyce Collins commented:

8-26-2009 11:02 AM

Rev Meg Schramm Your comments are certainly noteworthy! It hurts my heart to hear about what we do to animals and how so many people are unconscious to their plight and when you attempt to make them aware become very hostile about changing their world view about how animals are treated in the meat industry!
ObladiOblada commented:

8-26-2009 10:48 AM

Wow...so they were doing this in 2002 and did they stop and then start again or did nobody check back with them before now? I can imagine that nobody probably checked back until now because there are much more important things for the government to worry about than our environment...sarcasm. Oh and Meg Schramm...I think that's a great idea. thumbs up
chris commented:

8-25-2009 8:05 PM

it's only fitting that the people who allow the abattoir to exist in their area should be allowed to reap the benefits!! yum yum drink up!!
carla commented:

8-25-2009 7:44 PM

Shut them down.. 2 million is not enough for these assholes!!!!!
Brien Comerford commented:

8-25-2009 7:38 PM

The inhumane poultry meat and pork industries are responsible for inordinate and pernicious air water and land pollution. A decent US Attorney General would prosecute them for felany environmental crimes.
Rev. Meg Schramm commented:

8-25-2009 7:07 PM

One of the sights common to bikers riding across the United States is the sight of a factory farm pumping sewage where it should'nt. If we ever go on another crosscountry trip of three months or more I intend to take some really interesting photos of what tourists don't pay attention to such as trucks full of cows chickens and pigs lined up in front of the processing plant at night they can be seen from the road the lagoons full of excrement and my personal favorite the traffic jams where I am surrounded by livestock peering out between trailer slats. I am then going to try to get the photos published in a book. My tentative title is "From The Farm To Your Table A Long And Tortured Road."