HSUS to Sue Six Pork Production Firms

By CnAgri2012-07-12 19:55:43 Print

The Humane Society of the United States reports that it intends to sue a range of pork production companies involving their units in Iowa, North Carolina and Oklahoma. According to Pork Magazine, the animal rights group cites unreported releases of hazardous pollutant ammonia as the impetus for the legal action.

HSUS identified the 51 production sites owned by the six companies after it 'conduced months of research.' The HSUS told Pork Network that the group used a simple and readily available mathematical equation to estimate the amount of ammonia being released from each of the facilities that received notice. The equation, found on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) websites, considers the number and type of animals, as well as the waste-management practices to estimate the ammonia emissions from that production segment.

"In each case, the estimates from the emitting facilities were high enough that it was readily apparent that these facililites are emitting above the legal threshold," HSUS contends.

However, Allan Stokes, director of enviornmental programs for the National Pork Board (NPB) points out, "The equation EPA placed on its website was meant only as an aide for livestock producers and not as a regulatory tool or an absolute determinant of whether a livestock operation in fact exceeded any regulatory reporting thresholds."

Stokes says the EPA has not yet adopted final Emission Estimating Methods or EEMs for swine operations.

HSUS says it is filing the letter of intent to sue in accord with the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). HSUS argues that the pork production facilities in question "have not adequately reported their emissions as required by EPCRA."