Across the globe, 748 million people lack access to safe, clean drinking water. Believe it or not, one of the nation’s most serious and persistent threats to freshwater resources is created from factory farms, including poultry farms, which can be a dirty business.
Environmental runoff from factory farms includes dangerous pollutants like manure and chemical fertilizers as well as antibiotics used to treat animals that are released into local waterways. This pollution poses devastating risks to public health and the health of local ecosystems.
As one the country's biggest food companies, Perdue has an obligation to its customers to ensure that its products are produced and processed responsibly and safely, and yet Perdue has a 10-year track record of water and environmental safety violations. In fact, Perdue facilities release millions of pounds of toxic waste each year. In 2002, the EPA cited Perdue’s poultry processing and rendering plants in Accomac, Virginia for exceeding ammonia effluent limits, and for inadequate maintenance and operation of its wastewater treatment plant. And in 2010, one of Perdue’s contract farms in Maryland illegally discharged farm runoff into the Pocomoke River.
The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility has been calling on poultry companies, including Tyson, Sanderson Farms, Pilgrim’s Pride and Perdue, to monitor their water use and impacts, and to report publicly on water risks. ICCR has contacted Perdue multiple times regarding its water risks yet the company has refused to respond. While Perdue has done work in some geographic regions, the company can become an industry leader by implementing cross-cutting and overarching corporate water stewardship policies.
For World Water Day 2017, which highlights the impact of waste water on the world’s freshwater crisis, tell Perdue to come clean on the water impacts of its operations by adding your name to our petition.
