Companies like Tyson Foods, Cargill, Inc., and Perdue Farms Inc. dump their garbage-more than 206 million pounds of it-into our water almost every year and leave others to worry about the clean-up. Now, as the Environmental Protection Agency considers a rule to restore the Clean Water Act, these companies are pulling out all the stops to maintain their freedom to dump and pollute, regardless of the toxic outcomes.

Tyson Foods, who primarily produces chicken, sends over 18 million pounds of toxic chemicals into U.S. waterways every single year, according to a new report from Environment America. They account for 9 percent of the nationwide total, and they share their top spot with other similar corporate agribusiness and food producing companies who are sending waste into the Great Lakes, the Chesapeake Bay, Mississippi River, and Puget Sound, among other U.S. waterways.

We aren’t just talking about a little leak, a trickle of toxins; we are talking about 206 million pounds of waste.

‘America’s waterways should be clean – for swimming, drinking, and supporting wildlife,” said Ally Fields, of Environment America Research and Policy Center. ‘But too often, our waters have become a dumping ground for polluters. The first step to curb this tide of […]