Spring Floods Exacerbate Raw Sewage from Factory Farms Washing into Gulf of Mexico

Mighty Earth analyzed EPA and industry data to determine that the top U.S. meat companies discharge nearly 220 million tons of manure and facility waste annually. The analysis highlights that these pollutants, which include toxins and pathogens, are often stored in flood-prone earthen impoundments or discharged directly into waterways. In the Mississippi Watershed, this resulted in an estimated 16 million lbs of direct facility sewage and 128 million tons of manure from livestock and poultry production. The report links these pollution levels and the exacerbation caused by climate-driven flooding to the creation of dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico.

• The largest meat companies in the U.S. discharged nearly 220 million tons of manure and facility waste, with JBS identified as the top polluter, generating approximately 80 million tons of sewage.
• Facilities within the Mississippi Watershed, which drains into the Gulf of Mexico, discharged an estimated 128 million tons of manure from livestock and poultry production and 16 million lbs of sewage directly from facilities.
• Industrial meat waste contains dangerous pathogens and toxins, such as E. coli, lead, nitrates, and antibiotic resistant bacteria, and unlike human waste, it is not required to be treated before release.
• Climate-exacerbated flooding and the use of earthen impoundments increase the risk of waste overflowing into waterways; Cargill had the most facilities in NOAA 'high risk' flood regions for spring 2019, while Tyson had the highest overall exposure to flood risk areas.
• Run-off pollution from the meat industry washing down the Mississippi River is a primary cause of the annual dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, which NOAA predicted would be larger than the annual average following the 2019 Midwest floods.

APA

Jones, S. (2019). Spring Floods Exacerbate Raw Sewage from Factory Farms Washing into Gulf of Mexico. Mighty Earth. https://mightyearth.org/article/spring-floods-exacerbate-pollution-from-factory-farms-washing-into-gulf-of-mexico/

Chicago

Jones, Sydney. Spring Floods Exacerbate Raw Sewage from Factory Farms Washing into Gulf of Mexico. Mighty Earth, 2019. https://mightyearth.org/article/spring-floods-exacerbate-pollution-from-factory-farms-washing-into-gulf-of-mexico/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Jones |first1=Sydney |title=Spring Floods Exacerbate Raw Sewage from Factory Farms Washing into Gulf of Mexico |publisher=Mighty Earth |date=6 June 2019 |url=https://mightyearth.org/article/spring-floods-exacerbate-pollution-from-factory-farms-washing-into-gulf-of-mexico/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{jones2019spring, author = {Jones, Sydney}, title = {{Spring Floods Exacerbate Raw Sewage from Factory Farms Washing into Gulf of Mexico}}, institution = {Mighty Earth}, year = {2019}, month = jun, url = {https://mightyearth.org/article/spring-floods-exacerbate-pollution-from-factory-farms-washing-into-gulf-of-mexico/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }