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Sierra Club Lawsuits

Tyson Forced to Clean Up Its Act

Case Updates:

January 31, 2005

On January 26, 2005, the Sierra Club filed a consent decree in federal court in Kentucky settling its case against Tyson Foods. Under the decree, Tyson has agreed to spend a half a million dollars to study and report on emissions from its chicken operations and mitigate ammonia emissions that have been plaguing rural residents for years. The settlement comes on the heels of a landmark court decision last November, when a federal judge in Owensboro ruled that Tyson is responsible for reporting toxic ammonia emissions from their operations. Since Tyson controls how the chickens are raised, what medications and food they are given, and Tyson received the bulk of the profit, the court ruled that they should no longer be off the hook for the consequences of their pollution. “After a long battle, we have won a victory for all the other families suffering from factory farm pollution,” said Norma Caine, a Webster County resident who has been a leader in this fight for nearly a decade. “We hope other citizens will now be able to speak up, and protect communities throughout Kentucky from this kind of pollution—for our families and our future.”

March 5, 2004

In late 2003, a federal court in Kentucky ruled that food giant Tyson is responsible for reporting pollution at factory farms. The Sierra Club and local residents sued Tyson for failing to report hazardous releases of ammonia from four animal factories under its supervision, located in Webster, McClean, and Hopkins counties. Animal factories are huge chicken production operations that pack tens of thousands of chickens into closed buildings. When people breathe ammonia, the toxic gas can cause respiratory problems, and in some cases can be fatal. Tyson had argued that it was not responsible for pollution from its factory farms because the operations are run by people who raise chickens for Tyson under contract. Luckily, federal court Judge Joseph McKinley saw through Tyson's arguments.

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