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Tyson Foods dumps millions of pounds of toxic pollutants into US rivers and lakes (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

55 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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.

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20240430115519/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/30/tyson-foods-toxic-pollutants-lakes-rivers

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[–] [email protected] 90 points 7 months ago (3 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 7 months ago

Their mandate is to do harm.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

~~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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

and what's the solution? ____ all conservatives for the sake of humanity

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Banish to Antarctica

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

Why make the penguins suffer?

[–] [email protected] 58 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (3 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

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.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago (1 children)

YOUR veins, not THEIRS.

You don't get to become a CEO by remembering the human. Hate the playa, but even more so hate the game.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago (1 children)

You're right, I'm certain that is their perspective. But I also believe they overestimate their ability to avoid the damage they are causing. Everything is interwoven.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago

What I see of management styles today is "make a plan". Period. End of sentence. End of matter. End of discussion. Short-term thinking is the only type of thinking allowed. Want to do more? You're fired, and replaced with someone who will be more of a "team player". Even/especially the CEO, by the Board. i.e., you are overestimating their willingness & capacity to think beyond their greed - YOU (& I/we) see that, but they ~~don't~~ won't.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

You don't have to give Tyson food your money. I don't.

Eating meat is not only abhorrent morally, its also abhorrent environmentally.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (9 children)

It’s funny that you think that you’re free from Tyson as a vegan or vegetarian, since they are leading producers of corn and soy in the US as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyson_Foods

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

That's probably overwhelmingly animal feed. I'm from a farming family, and you would be surprised at how much of that ocean of corn is feed corn.

Unfortunately Raised and Rooted plant 'meat' is owned by Tyson. So vegetarians have to avoid Tyson too.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

Good point. Thanks for your insight.

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[–] [email protected] 54 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (3 children)

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.

https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/truth-about-tyson

[–] [email protected] 10 points 7 months ago

Great timing on this article and a new episode about Tyson from one of my favorite podcasts

https://pca.st/episode/f7d0725d-dcf7-4d63-8db3-269401469e4b

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

We can start right at the beginning with what happens with all the chicken shit.

https://www.bayjournal.com/news/pollution/eastern-shore-controversy-spotlights-chicken-plant-slurry/article_95f38ed6-7d0b-5622-ba2c-44a4c389cfd9.html

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

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.

[–] [email protected] 44 points 7 months ago (3 children)

The wastewater was enough to fill about 132,000 Olympic-size pools, according to a Guardian analysis.

Can we please hold these fucks accountable?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Nope. Best we can do is a $100 fine.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

So fucking revolting

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 7 months ago

Brought to you by the company that uses slave labor https://apnews.com/article/prison-to-plate-inmate-labor-investigation-c6f0eb4747963283316e494eadf08c4e

https://revealnews.org/article/they-thought-they-were-going-to-rehab-they-ended-up-in-chicken-plants/

And child labor https://www.npr.org/2023/09/25/1201524399/child-labor-perdue-farms-tyson-foods-investigation

[–] [email protected] 23 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Can I get a list of companies that aren't pieces of shit? I think it'll be shorter.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Sure, here you go:

[–] [email protected] 20 points 7 months ago

Thanks. I wrote it down so I won't forget.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 7 months ago (2 children)

If you think that's bad, wait until you hear what they're feeding to people.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago (2 children)

oil and cyanide were among the 371m lb of pollutants

Why does a food producer even have these things?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Lots of machinery with moving parts means lots and lots of oil.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

What do you mean? They’re food additives in America.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 7 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

I don't think most people know.

They mostly sell food to other food suppliers, caterers, restaurants and so on.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

What do they use cyanide for?

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