43 votes

Revealed: Tyson Foods dumps millions of pounds of toxic pollutants into US rivers and lakes

Posted May 6 by InsertNameHere

Tags: pollution.water, usa, tyson foods, meat industry, slaughterhouses, rivers, lakes, toxic, author.nina lakhani, source.the guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/30/tyson-foods-toxic-pollutants-lakes-rivers

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Authors: Nina Lakhani, Alvin Chang
Published: Apr 30 2024
Word count: 1937 words

6 comments

[5]
shrike
May 7
Link
And they'll get a fine based on a static amount, add it as "cost of doing business" and go on with their operations. All fines that need to make an impact MUST be a percentage of turnover. Case in...

And they'll get a fine based on a static amount, add it as "cost of doing business" and go on with their operations.

All fines that need to make an impact MUST be a percentage of turnover.

Case in point: Finland and speeding tickets. They hurt everyone equally. A multimillionaire was fined 120k€ for going 30km/h over the limit, a person under the income limit would've had to pay around 100€.

24 votes
1. [3]
  OBLIVIATER
  May 7
  Link Parent
  I feel like a simpler solution would just be to have them pay the entire cost of cleaning up the area and any reparations to community members who were harmed by it. That'll stop spills like this...
  
  I feel like a simpler solution would just be to have them pay the entire cost of cleaning up the area and any reparations to community members who were harmed by it. That'll stop spills like this real quick, as long as they aren't allowed to wiggle out of it
  
  18 votes
  1. Oslypsis
    May 7
    Link Parent
    Why not both? Both is good.
    
    Why not both? Both is good.
    
    12 votes
  2. lackofaname
    May 7
    Link Parent
    Big caveat. My lay-person's understanding is that companies have often hidden behind bankruptcy to avoid the costs of cleanups, and the loopholes are exactly the problem. For my own curiosity, I...
    
    as long as they aren't allowed to wiggle out of it
    
    Big caveat. My lay-person's understanding is that companies have often hidden behind bankruptcy to avoid the costs of cleanups, and the loopholes are exactly the problem.
    
    For my own curiosity, I did a little poking around. Law/economics is wayyyy out of my wheelhouse, so I can't weigh in on the info in the articles below, but I did find them interesting and maybe someone else will too.
    
    An explainer of some of the ways US companies have ducked environmental liability, with a couple examples: Environmental Spinoffs: The Attempt to Dump Liability Through Spin and Bankruptcy
    
    A paper (open-source) that describes environmental bonds as a way to force companies to limit pollution (and front more cleanup funds): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0928765521000312
    
    (if these topics are in someone's wheelhouse, I'd welcome more info!)
    
    7 votes
2. Moogles
  May 7
  Link Parent
  Jail time for executives is honestly the only real deterrent I think that will ever work, but it has to be in combination with monetary punishment that directly impacts investors.
  
  Jail time for executives is honestly the only real deterrent I think that will ever work, but it has to be in combination with monetary punishment that directly impacts investors.
  
  6 votes
drannex
May 7
Link
That doesn't surprise me, my dad worked in Springdale AR, just a few blocks from one of the main Tyson plants. You could smell the plants before you even entered the city, smelled similar to dog...

That doesn't surprise me, my dad worked in Springdale AR, just a few blocks from one of the main Tyson plants. You could smell the plants before you even entered the city, smelled similar to dog food, barely breathable.

14 votes