Tyson Foods، an America's biggest meat، poultryCo.، dumps186thousand tons of toxic chemicals into US rivers and lakes
Tyson Foods، a multibillion dollar company، one of America's biggest meat and poultry processors and owned by Billionaire John Tyson، released 186 thousand tons of toxic chemicals from 41 factories or 87 billion gallons contaminated with cancer-causing cyanide، nitrates، chloride، phosphorous and oil directly from 41 plants into US public waters such as rivers and lakes across 17 states between 2018 and 2023.
Tyson Foods، a multibillion-dollar meat and poultry processing giant company، and owned by Billionaire John Tyson، dumps toxic waste including cyanide، blood and feces into US rivers and lakes، enough to fill 132 thousand Olympic-size pools، while the sheer scale of the poison flowing into the country's rivers and waterways is starting to emerge after scientists took a look at one of America's biggest meat processors.
Toxic chemicals linked with cancer، blood disorders، thyroid disease and brain defects
Tyson Foods، a multibillion-dollar company، one of America's biggest meat and poultry processors and owned by Billionaire John Tyson، released tons of toxic chemicals which have been linked with cancer، blood disorders، thyroid disease and brain defects in children as scientists were only able to count discharges from a third of its factories because most meat processing plants do not have to report figures.
The scientists warned that the toxic chemicals released by Tyson Foods، a multibillion-dollar company، one of America's biggest meat and poultry processors and owned by Billionaire John Tyson، contaminate the water which would cover 165 square kilometers to a depth of two meters and fill three Olympic-sized swimming pools every hour.
Tyson Foods can treat even hefty fines and penalties for polluting the environment
But the study by the Union of Concerned Scientists looked at just two percent of Tyson Foods meat processing plants nationwide leaving the total figure terrifyingly uncertain as the report's authors slam feeble federal regulation and state houses in the pocket of a 'Big Ag' which can pollute with impunity.
Tyson Foods، as a multibillion-dollar company، can treat even hefty fines and penalties for polluting the environment as simply the cost of conducting business its way، the scientists wrote، noting that this has to be changed.
Tyson Foods is a multibillion-dollar company، owned by the billionaire John Tyson who has chaired the Fortune 100 family firm since 1998 and helped it record a $2.49 billion profit in 2023 from its 123 meat processing plants across the country.
Tyson Foods company earned $53 billion in 2023
The 90-year-old Tyson Foods company sits on the Fortune 100 index and earned $53 billion in 2023، operating brands including Jimmy Dean، Hillshire Farm، Ball Park، and Wright Brand، and supplying outlets including KFC، Taco Bell، McDonald's، Burger King، Wendy's and Walmart.
The Tyson Foods firm has over 5،000 meat and poultry processing plants in the United States، but only a fraction are required to report pollution and abide by limits، and its plant is one of Nebraska's top employers but situated just 500 feet from the Missouri River، while its biggest plant in Dakota City was responsible for releasing 8 thousand tons of toxic chemicals into the waters during the last 6 years.
Agriculture consumes more fresh water than any other human activity
Agriculture consumes more fresh water than any other human activity، and meat processors especially Tyson Foods firm، use nearly a third of that، leaving it awash with toxic chemicals، blood، feces، micro-organisms and pathogens including E. Coli and Enterococcus.
Tyson Foods، a multibillion-dollar company and one of America's biggest meat and poultry processors makes 15 states suffer drinking water with higher than permitted levels of nitrates which lead to blood disorders and brain defects in infants، and have been estimated to cause up to 300 cases of cancer a year in Iowa state alone.
Half of the contaminants dumped into the waters، including 8 thousand tons from Tyson Foods 's biggest plant
Half of the contaminants found in the study were dumped into the waters of Missouri، Illinois and Nebraska، including 8،000 tons from Tyson Foods 's biggest plant at Dakota City، just 500 feet from the Missouri river، although this Tyson plant helped put students through college and supports a lot of migrant workers but there's a dark side like the water and air pollution that most people don't pay attention to because they're just trying to survive.
Tyson Foods company has across Nebraska 5 largest plants which released more than 55 thousand tons of pollutants، including 2 thousand tons of nitrates، and once in the waterways the toxic discharges join the chemical run-off from fields fertilized by the state's highly consolidated agriculture sector and start to make their way downstream، while if regulations are lax، corporations have a tendency to push limits to maximize profits.
Algae thrive on the chemical mix، sucking oxygen out of the water، killing fish
Algae thrive on the chemical mix، sucking oxygen out of the water، killing fish and creating 'dead zones' all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico and they also affect the human population، increasing cases of pneumonia، bronchitis، and asthma among people living nearby as well as the effect is compounded by the 7،600 tons of bacteria leaving the Tyson Foods factories which feast on the oxygen previously available in the rivers and lakes.
The study by the Union of Concerned Scientists reported that Tyson Foods factories with this biological load compounding the oxygen-depleting effects of its nitrogen and phosphorous pollution، is truly sucking the life out of aquatic habitats.
Billions of gallons of water are polluted with chemicals and bacteria at Tyson Foods
Billions of gallons of water are polluted with chemicals and bacteria at Tyson Foods 's poultry and meat processing plants as they are used in preparing millions of pieces of meat that it was fined $2million in 2018 by the Department of Justice after more than 100 thousand fish were killed by a discharge of ammonia at Clear Creek in Missouri، and it paid $3 million to settle a lawsuit in 2021 over the death of 200 thousand fish in Alabama's Black Warrior River، while the fine amounted just 0.006 percent of the $47.05 billion it received in revenue that year.
ironically، Tyson Foods 's poultry and meat company has vast wealth at its disposal، so it can withstand even multimillion-dollar pollution penalties، despite that chlorides are corrosive and the impact from Tyson's biggest single discharge is felt on the pipes and systems of water infrastructure itself، while Sulfates are responsible for intestinal and stomach diseases in those exposed to too many.
EPA publishes data on toxic discharges from just 300 of the 7 thousand meat factories
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes data on toxic discharges from just 300 of the 7 thousand meat factories، including Tyson Foods 's poultry and meat processing plants across the US and it agreed to update its regulations after a lawsuit by environmental groups and is expected to roll out its new rules in September next year.
The current rule of EPA is out of date، inadequate and catastrophic for American waterways، and highlights the way American lawmaking is subject to industry capture، said Dani Replogle of Food and Water Watch، who said that EPA is minded to opt for the weakest option on the table which critics claim will still allow billions of gallons of toxic waste to flow unchecked into the nation's waters.
The nutrient problem in the US is at catastrophic levels
The nutrient problem in the US is at catastrophic levels، it would be such a shame if the EPA caves in to industry influence and the Scientists are sure Tyson Foods and other big ag players will object to efforts to update pollution regulations، but the EPA should listen to communities whose wells، lakes، rivers and streams have been contaminated and put people over corporate profits.
Tyson Foods company alone employs 125 thousand people in the US، and the North American Meat Institute said thousands of jobs will be lost if existing regulation is made any tighter as mMeat and poultry companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars to comply with EPA's effluent limitations guidelines، while EPA's new proposed guidelines will cost over $1bn and will eliminate 100 thousand jobs in rural communities and EPA calculates that around half of US rivers and more than a third of lakes are too polluted to safely swim or fish in، with agriculture among the top sources of contamination.
One million people in California alone are at risk of long-term disease
The Union of Concerned Scientists reported that nearly one million
people in California alone are at risk of long-term disease from drinking water contaminated with arsenic and nitrates، according to a 2022 report by the state's Water Resources Control Board which assured that US has created a system with no accountability that doesn't protect the ecosystem، including the land، water and people as the political capture is harming the rural communities and the people are now in the belly of the beast and need help from federal regulators.
The report said some of America's rarest animals are also threatened including the 500 wild whooping cranes which stop during their migration at a bend of the Platte River less than two miles from Tyson Foods 's slaughterhouse and beef processing plant in Lexington، Missouri، while the country's tallest birds had to cope with 11،500 tons of pollutants emitted into the local waters by the plant in the 6 years from 2018.
Meat and poultry processing plants release thousand tons of toxic chemicals that cause many cancers
Meat and poultry processing plants in the United States release thousand tons of toxic chemicals that cause prostate cancer، breast cancer and brain cancer، just everything from the food they are eating or the water they are drinking but the big money spent on lobbying and campaigns by corporate agriculture has played a major role in resisting stronger regulation.
A Chinese-born reporter for the website was accused of being as 'Communist'، by State Governor Jim Pillen when she grilled him about emissions from his hog farms last year and last month the Nebraska Supreme Court said the state's Department of Environment and Energy was entitled to charge the website $44 thousand to see its emails containing the words nitrate، nutrient، fertilizer or nitrogen، despite clear signals such as high levels of nitrates in the groundwater and cancers in rural communities that need more oversight for farmers across the board.
Tyson Foods contributed nearly half the $4.3m spent by the meat processing industry on lobbying
The fight over the new EPA regulations is also well underway in DC and Tyson Foods contributed nearly half the $4.3m spent by the meat processing industry on lobbying in the capital in 2023، therefore، federal intervention is the only way to break the sector's stranglehold over local communities and state legislatures and the good news is that the federal government has the power to limit the influence of mega corporations through antitrust regulations that target monopolies.
Furthermore، Congress must better address consolidation in the meat and poultry industry and the power it gives companies to pollute without fear of consequences as in a new five-year food and farm bill، Congress should incorporate proposals such as the Farm System Reform Act، which would strengthen the US Department of Agriculture's ability to crack down on the monopolistic practices of meatpackers including Tyson Foods.
