Tyson Foods Is Dumping Millions Of Pounds Of Pollutants Into American Waterways
Pollution pays. Fossil fuel companies are working overtime to prevent regulators from learning how much methane they are releasing into the atmosphere or how much of it they are flaring because there is no penalty for doing so. Now an investigation by the Union of Concerned Scientists reveals that Tyson Foods, one of the largest food processing companies in the world, has dumped 371 million pounds of pollutants — millions of pounds of toxic pollutants including nitrogen, phosphorus, chloride, oil, and cyanide — into American waterways in the past five years. Those pollutants, which are a threat to critical ecosystems and a danger to wildlife and human health, came from 41 Tyson slaughterhouses and processing plants between 2018 and 2022.
The Union of Concerned Scientists says the contaminants were dispersed in 87 billion gallons of wastewater that were released directly into streams, rivers, lakes, and wetlands relied upon by surrounding communities for drinking water, fishing, and recreation. That discharge water also contained blood, bacteria, and animal feces. The UCS analysis was shared exclusively with The Guardian and is based on the most recent publicly available water pollution data Tyson is required to report under current regulations. The water pollution from Tyson, a Fortune 100 company and the world’s second largest meat producer, was spread across 17 states, but about half the contaminants were dumped into streams, rivers, lakes, and wetlands in Nebraska, Illinois, and Missouri.
