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Meatpacking Plants Mostly Pollute Low-Income Communities of Color, EPA Data Shows

Summary

An Investigate Midwest analysis reveals that many U.S. meatpacking plants disproportionately pollute low-income, predominantly non-white communities. In Postville, Iowa, Agri Star Meat and Poultry discharged 250,000 gallons of untreated waste, threatening local water supplies in a community where many residents work for the same plant. The EPA’s new regulations aim to reduce pollution from these facilities, but enforcement has been limited, with most violations going unenforced. As the meatpacking industry pushes back against costly compliance, advocates argue that improved regulations could protect vulnerable communities from the environmental and health hazards caused by these plants’ wastewater and air pollution.

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