Tell Pilgrim’s Pride to Stop Slaughterhouse Pollution

From PennEnvironment (http://www.pennenvironment.org):

In just one year, slaughterhouses dumped 55 million pounds of toxic pollution directly into our nation’s rivers and streams.¹

Our waterways should provide safe drinking water as well as habitat for our wildlife and places for recreational activities. Instead, companies like Pilgrim’s Pride are flooding our waters with slaughterhouse pollution.²

And all too often, this slaughterhouse pollution contributes to toxic algae, aquatic “dead zones,” and tens of thousands of dead fish.

It’s time for one of the biggest chicken producers in the country to clean up its mess and stop polluting our waterways. Tell Pilgrim’s Pride to stop its slaughterhouse pollution at https://pennenvironment.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=47260.

We can tell you more about how slaughterhouses pollute our waters, but we have to warn you — you might not want to hear how the sausage is made.

Slaughterhouses generate huge volumes of blood, oil, grease and fats from animals.³ Without proper pollution controls, these substances — sometimes mixed with pathogens — can wind up in our rivers and streams.

Once the waste enters our waters, we start to see the repercussions: Algal blooms kill fish by the tens of thousands; antibiotic-resistant strains of E. coli contaminate water; drinking water systems are potentially faced with unsafe chemical byproducts. The list goes on.

It’s cut and dry: Slaughterhouse wastewater endangers our water and our wildlife.

Pilgrim’s Pride, with more than 26 processing plants across the United States, can make a huge difference.⁴ Tell Pilgrim’s Pride to clean up its act.

At one Pilgrim’s Pride facility in Louisiana, more than 280,000 pounds of pollution clogged our waters.⁵

We know Pilgrims Pride can do better. At its Florida facility, the company agreed to curb pollution in the Suwannee River in response to a lawsuit brought by our national partners.⁶

Now, we need the company to use its best pollution controls at every facility.

Call on Pilgrim’s Pride to clean up its facilities and stop dumping slaughterhouse waste into our waterways.

1. “Slaughterhouses Are Polluting Our Waterways,” Environment America, last accessed October 6, 2021.
2. “Slaughterhouses Are Polluting Our Waterways,” Environment America, last accessed October 6, 2021.
3.  Nina Lakhani, “EPA sued for allowing slaughterhouses to pollute waterways,” The Guardian, December 18, 2019.
4. “Facilities and locations,” Pilgrim’s Pride, last accessed October 6, 2021.
5. “Slaughterhouses Are Polluting Our Waterways,” Environment America, last accessed October 6, 2021.
6. “Environmental Groups Reach Major Clean Water Settlement with Pilgrim’s Pride,” Environment America, November 15, 2017.