For decades, slaughterhouses and rendering plants have been among the worst industrial polluters of America's waterways, poisoning rivers, lakes, and drinking water supplies with staggering amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus, in addition to pathogens. They compound the already heavy load felt within the Black Warrior River basin, which is home to more factory farming than anywhere else in the state. These pollutants fuel toxic algal blooms, create dead zones devoid of oxygen, and contaminate the water our communities rely on for fishing, recreation, and drinking. Now, after years of delay, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has thrown away a critical opportunity to finally hold this industry accountable and abandoned its process to modernize grossly outdated and inadequate water pollution control standards. By choosing inaction instead of moving forward with standards that are needed to protect public health and the environment, the EPA is allowing this industry to routinely bypass the costs of pollution onto our communities. Now more than ever, it is critical that Alabama's Department of Environmental Management recognize the urgent need for strong action on behalf of our communities.

The EPA's own data confirms what communities like ours in Alabama have long been burdened with: slaughterhouses and rendering facilities are the largest industrial sources of phosphorus pollution and the second-largest sources of nitrogen pollution in the U.S. In Alabama, we've seen firsthand how outdated state standards allowed polluters to discharge unsafe levels of toxins like toluene (common in gasoline and hardware store chemicals) into our waterways for years, until advocacy groups like Black Warrior Riverkeeper forced long-overdue updates. It's time to take similar decisive action against the impacts of slaughterhouse pollution. Nationwide, many facilities operate under shockingly outdated federal rules - some dating back to the 1970s - that fail to limit phosphorus at all or address the reality of today's pollution threats. By failing to take decisive action against the impacts of slaughterhouse pollution, the EPA is furthering injustice within communities who are exposed to dangerous pollution every day.

Worse, this pollution isn't distributed equally. EPA's own analysis shows these facilities are overwhelmingly located in disadvantaged communities. Indeed, the slaughterhouse industry has made it a point to pass off the costs of its pollution onto the people of Alabama. Industry profit has become Alabamians' burden to bear. For example, the Tyson slaughterhouse facility in Blountsville has turned a famed local swimming hole into its own personal dumping ground. Mardis Mill Falls - located on Graves Creek, a tributary to the Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River - has served as a place for Alabamians and their families to swim, fish, picnic, and paddle for decades. Polluted wastewater and stormwater discharged from Tyson's slaughterhouse just a half mile upstream can contain high levels of E. coli, a bacteria that is unsafe for human contact and can make people sick. Tyson's high levels of nutrient pollution contribute to the Locust Fork's ongoing nutrient impairment. Locals and visitors alike deserve to have access to a clean swimming hole at Mardis Mill Falls, yet inadequate Clean Water Act permit limitations spur local volunteers with Friends of the Locust Fork River to take on the necessary task of monitoring bacteria levels in Graves Creek. Another example is Tyson's massive rendering plant on the Mulberry Fork of the Black Warrior River. It has been the source of many wastewater spills and fish kills over the years. Most recently, in 2019 the plant spilled so much wastewater into the river that hundreds of thousands of fish died and the river was fouled with unsafe levels of E. coli, rendering it unsafe to swim in for many miles downstream. Locals found themselves struggling to get straight answers about the river's condition from the company and the regulatory agency - the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. There was much public uproar and media coverage. While the company was fined, there were no resulting requirements for upgrades to their Clean Water Act permit to better protect the river going forward.

Despite the fact that our communities bear the risks of waterborne illnesses, contaminated fish, and undrinkable water, the EPA did little to engage us in the decision-making process. When considering options for the rulemaking that has now been scrapped, the agency offered just two virtual hearings and one in-person hearing in Washington, D.C. - options that exclude many impacted residents due to cost, technology barriers, and short notice. Now, by moving forward with outdated business-as-usual standards, the EPA has cut out the needs and voices of these communities altogether. Instead of following the Clean Water Act and implementing standards based on the best available technology, the EPA has gone with the so-called cheapest, most convenient option: a regulatory free-for-all that allows polluters to continue to dump nitrogen and phosphorus into local streams and public wastewater treatment plants that have limited capacity to treat such pollution effectively, passing the economic burden of that pollution onto communities.

EPA has completely disregarded the need for standards that protect Alabamians and our beloved water resources. EPA is failing to provide its necessary oversight of slaughterhouses which discharge wastewater into waterways and overburden public wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) - ultimately putting our public health, ecosystems, and local economies at risk. We should no longer shoulder the environmental and economic burden of unchecked industrial pollution that can impose tens of millions of dollars worth of public WWTP upgrades and serve as an impediment to other businesses being able to locate here and tap into the WWTP capacity.

The EPA's mission is to protect public health and the environment, not to accommodate polluters. For too long, slaughterhouses and rendering plants have operated with impunity, despite the minimal costs associated with facility upgrades and access to hundreds of millions of dollars worth of federal financial assistance. Instead, they've left communities to pay the price with their health, their drinking water, and their livelihoods. The EPA is undermining science and river protection by upholding loopholes and delays that perpetuate harm.

It is now up to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to step up to the plate to protect Alabamians with comprehensive, protective water quality standards for the state's slaughterhouse industry. Alabama's recent victory in tightening water toxicity standards proves change is possible when advocates and communities demand action. Our water, our health, and our future depend on it. The time for half-measures is over. Our state must act now and finally clean up this industry, because our communities and rivers can't wait any longer.