Meatpacking plants can’t be allowed to pollute

Immigrant workers in Midwestern meatpacking plants endure backbreaking jobs to realize their American dreams. And when meatpacking plants spew pollution, the most affected areas are low-income neighborhoods where workers live.

Journalists from Investigate Midwest, John McCracken and Monica Cordero, dug through 20 years of Environmental Protection Agency’s enforcement data.

What they found is at half the meatpacking plants in the Midwest are in areas where more than 40% of the people living within a mile earn incomes less than two times the poverty level. At four in 10 plants, Hispanic residents make up 25 to 45% of the people living within one mile.

Meatpacking plants discharge waste directly into waterways, send it to a municipal water plant or spread it over cropland.

The highest number of EPA enforcement cases in Iowa have been in Postville, including four related to the Agri Star meatpacking plant for water and air pollution and negligence. The percentage of people living in poverty in Postville more than two times the state average.

In March, Postville shut down its water treatment facility to prevent polluted water from entering the water supply after Agri Star discharged more than 250,000 gallons of blood, chemicals and other materials into the city’s wastewater system.

Remarkably, water pollution rules are the least enforced.

So, the EPA is proposing new rules with the goal of reducing pollution from meatpacking plants across the country. The way wastewater is managed would be put in place. The agency believes meatpacking pollution endangers drinking water.

We think tighter rules are a good idea, potentially improving the lives of people who lack the resources to deal with problems upstream.

Of course, the meatpacking industry contends the new rules will lead to increased costs and closed plants in communities that need the jobs and taxes. But allowing them to pollute cannot no longer be part of the price paid for by residents.

With the arrival of President Donald Trump, the new rules could be scrapped by a more business friendly EPA. We urge the new administration to think twice before permitting meatpackers to pollute our state.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com