303.243.0245 [email protected]

Waste Deep: How Tyson Foods Pollutes US Waterways and Which States Bear the Brunt

By Omanjana Goswami and Stacy Woods , Courtesy of ucsusa.org

Tyson Foods, the nation’s largest meat and poultry producer, released hundreds of millions of pounds of pollutants from its slaughterhouses and processing plants into local waterways across the United States between 2018 and 2022.

Water pollutants from Tyson plants pose a risk to people and the environment and include large amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus. These nutrients feed algal blooms that clog water infrastructure, exacerbate asthma and other respiratory conditions, and contribute to dead zones that harm fish, shellfish, and people. Many of these facilities are also located close to federally defined critical habitats for endangered or threatened species.

This analysis adds to a broader critique of Tyson Foods and the impact of this megacorporation on communities, consumers, farmers, and workers. Policymakers can reduce the damage Tyson causes by tightening wastewater pollution standards, better enforcing discharge limits, and cracking down on the corporate consolidation that enables Tyson’s excesses.

 

IN THIS REPORT

A map of the United States with circles in shades of red that represent Tyson meat processing plants, with the size of the circles based on the amount of pollutants discharged

Figure 1: Tyson Pollutant Discharges into Waterways

The map shows Tyson meat processing plants by relative pollutant discharges into waterways, 2018-2022.

 

A map of the United States showing critical habitats in green and circles representing Tyson meat processing plants, with the color of each circle determined by distance to the nearest critical habitat

Figure 2: Tyson Plant Proximity to Critical Habitats

The map shows the relative proximity of water-polluting Tyson meat processing plants to critical habitats, 2018-2022.

 

photo of a PVC pipe disgorging a high volume of greenish-brown wastewater into a body of freshwater

Waste Deep Story Map

See how Tyson’s water pollution impacts people and the environment.

 

THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING … A MUST READ ARTICLE.

 

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE: https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/waste-deep#read-online-content