Considerations Against Tyson in Eagle Mountain

1. Water/Environment/Pollution
2. Work Environment Concerns
3. Property Value/Who will work at the factory?
4. Economic Concerns

WATER/ENVIRONMENT/POLLUTION CONCERNS:

Tyson is the worst water polluter in the country. More than Exxon and Cargill COMBINED.
In 2014 they dumped 20 million pounds of toxic waste into water sources.
From 2010-2015 Tyson has paid over $19 million in OSHA and EPA violations
In 2014 the Attorney General of Missouri sued Tyson for polluting their water and killing their fish. They killed over 100,000 fish. This case went until last year. Fines accrued were over $2.5 million
Tyson is the accused culprit of the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. The second largest dead zone in the world.
Since 2006, Tyson has had 13 accidental releases of anhydrous ammonia in 4 different states.
Tyson has multiple violations of the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act

Questions?

-How much water does the facility plan on using per year?

-How will they adjust their procedures when we are in a drought season?

-What is the method for disposing of carcass by products?

-What is the plan if they have an accidental leakage of poisonous waste?

 

WORK ENVIRONMENT CONCERNS:

Tyson has a long history with OSHA violations.

Employees at Tyson Foods are at risk for salmonella poisoning due to their exposure to raw meat products
There have been reports of faulty production line equipment causing injuries and even dismemberment of hands, arms, and fingers.
Employees use chemicals in the meat packaging process that have also been known to cause respiratory illnesses and irritation to those working on the production line all the way to the office staff.
When proper training and safety measures haven’t been implemented, repetitive stress injuries and accidents have occurred leaving many employees in pain and worried about the future of their livelihood.

I was able to find multiple citations and case summaries of Tyson’s OSHA violations and workplace injuries. I will link them at the bottom of this document.

“A Harvest Public Media investigation found that the more than 500,000 men and women who work in slaughterhouses and meat-processing plants have some of the most dangerous factory jobs in America. Government fines for abuses are low and lines speeds are so fast that workers are often crippled for life with repetitive motion problems, the investigation found.”

 

PROPERTY VALUE/ WHO WILL WORK HERE?

Questions:

Tyson has a history of bringing workers from elsewhere to fill their lower paying positions. If we have an influx of Tyson employees, where will they live?
Who in Eagle Mountain is going to leave their current job to work on the factory line?
What is the unemployment of Eagle Mountain?
What is the current population of Eagle Mountain?
Will all employees be authorized to work in the United States? If not, what do we have in place to support the community who will be working here?

I have spoken with other community members who have concern that an influx of renters will devalue property and overwhelm our schools.

 

ECONOMIC CONCERNS:

Research Shows that Meat Packing industries stifle wages and the economy though the intention is to build infrastructure.

"Local officials seek to attract the meat packing and processing industry because they believe it will generate employment and spur wage growth in their communities. This research does find evidence that the industry affects total county employment growth, but does not support the case for positive spillovers on employment in other sectors or on wage growth. Instead, we find that expansion in meat packing and processing has a negative effect on overall wage growth and slows employment growth in other sectors of the host county economy."

https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/18219?ln=en

Looking to the future of industry in the United States, we HAVE to consider the viability and sustainability of factory jobs with automation in our future.

I wonder if this is a consideration that anyone has had. If so, what is our plan for the future when Tyson closes shop due to more efficient automated work?

I spoke with citizens of Cherokee, Iowa to understand better what happened when the Tyson Plant closed. It seems that Tyson closed the plant abruptly and unexpectedly and would not drop the lease. The town was in an economic stand still for 4 years. The facility sat vacant for the entire 4 years.

450 people lost their jobs.

Only last year were they able to make plans to use the building for a new business.

Understandably this is anecdotal and uncommon, but still something to consider when we are looking at the promises Tyson offers us.

https://www.chronicletimes.com/story/2552583.html​

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2018/09/19/tyson-foods-cherokee-iowa-plant-iowa-food-group-moves-justin-robinson-pork-beef-chicken-processing/1356962002/

 

SOURCES:

https://www.ran.org/.../Tyson_Foods_Crime_File_list_of

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/.../tyson.../1356962002/​

 

https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/18219?ln=en

https://www.motherearthnews.com/.../tyson-foods-kills

https://www.washingtonpost.com/.../9c3656f4-8e6a-11e7

https://universe.byu.edu/.../gov-herbert-announces-a.../

https://environmentamerica.org/.../report-tyson-1-water

https://www.alternet.org/.../enforcement/tyson-foods-inc

https://www.epa.gov/.../reference-news-release-settlement

https://www.epa.gov/enforc.../tyson-foods-inc-consent-decree

https://environmentamerica.org/news/ame/report-tyson-1-water-polluter-among-agribusinesses

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/04/26/525736888/tyson-foods-promises-better-conditions-and-safety-for-meat-workers

https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/20/us/tyson-foods-indicted-in-plan-to-smuggle-illegal-workers.html

https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2014/06/18/attorney-general-chris-koster-sues-tyson-foods-for-polluting-water-and-killing-all-the-fish

https://www.ecowatch.com/corporate-food-dead-zone-gulf-of-mexico-2600841933.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3622235/

https://archive.epa.gov/epapages/newsroom_archive/newsreleases/15c113b344ba494385257b440058ee30.html

https://www.osha.gov/news/newsreleases/region6/08162016

https://www.osha.gov/Publications/fedrites.html

https://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/Tyson_Foods_Inc_1127717_0815_16.pdf​

https://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/Tyson_Foods_Inc_1127668_0815_16.pdf