News

Iowa water groups point finger at Tyson plants

The Iowa Environmental Council, the Des Moines Water Works and 18 central Iowa businesses have joined a coalition urging Tyson Foods to adopt new land-use rules for producers who supply livestock to Tyson processing plants. A Tyson Foods spokesperson says the groups are making misleading claims about the company, which is committed to continuous environmental improvement. Elise Peterson-Trujillo is a Des Moines organizer for “Mighty Earth,” a Washington, D.C.-based environmental group, “Unfortunately, the meat industry is currently driving production practices of feed grains that pollute our waterways with excess fertilizer pollutants. Tyson Foods is the company most responsible for driving these polluting practices.”

Susan Heathcote, water program director for the Iowa Environmental Council, says if Tyson required producers to plant oats or other cover crops on harvested corn and soybean fields, nitrate run-off could be reduced by as much as 40 percent.

Des Moines Water Works C-E-O Bill Stowe also spoke at Wednesday’s “Mighty Earth” news conference on the bank of the Des Moines River, “Look out at that water. It looks more like cappuccino than it is drinking water.”

Tyson has five meat processing facilities in Iowa. Tyson is the largest meat company in the U.S.

Tyson statement:  Their focus is pollution from crop production, but they overlook the many ways crops are used including human consumption and biofuel. We believe real change on this issue requires a broad coalition of stakeholders, not just one company. We’re collaborating with a variety of stakeholders, including public interest groups and trade associations, to promote continuous improvement in how we and our suppliers operate.

(Thanks to our sister network, Radio Iowa)