Perdue, poultry farm sued for polluting Chesapeake Bay

[wordpix]

Source: Washington Post

By David A. Fahrenthold
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 2, 2010; 10:45 PM

Environmental activists filed suit Tuesday against the poultry giant Perdue Farms and an Eastern Shore farm where Perdue chickens are raised, contending that the farm is polluting the Chesapeake Bay with manure-laden runoff.

The suit, filed by the Assateague Coastal Trust, says that water flowing off the farm near Berlin, Md., carries high levels of bacteria, as well as pollutants blamed for the Chesapeake's "dead zones." Environmentalists said they think the farm's owners store chicken manure in large outdoor piles near ditches, where it is likely to run off with the rain. snip

The Maryland Department of the Environment has an open investigation into the Hudson farm. The agency has found high bacteria levels in ditches draining from the property, spokeswoman Dawn Stoltzfus said Tuesday. These eventually drain into the Pocomoke River, a Chesapeake tributary, Phillips said.

But Stoltzfus said the only pile of waste she was aware of on the property was not chicken manure but treated human sewage, shipped to the farm for use as fertilizer. snip....more

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/02/AR2010030202408.html

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I call BS on the MD Dept of Env. The only pile of waste is from treated human sewage for use as fertilizer? You've got tons of fertilizer per year if you're raising Perdue chickens---why do you need to truck in human waste? :crazy:

I smell a load of BS from a state agency. Heaven forbid they should actually fine these criminals. :grr:

[tomm2thumbs]

1. and I thought the GOP was full of chicken shits!

they should just move on over - they'll feel right at home.

[Magleetis]

2. Too little too late

It is already dead.



http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/poisonedwaters/view/?utm_campaign=viewpage&utm_medium=grid&utm_source=grid

[leftofcool]

4. Yep it sure is

and nasty looking as well.

[xchrom]

3. There are pollution problems with large scale poultry farms.

And the Chesapeak -- a beautiful place -- has more than it's fair share.

[ensho]

5. kick Perdue

I grew up by Chesapeake Bay. It used to be clean, alive and beautiful.

what has been done to it by Perdue and others is a crime.

[thecrow]

8. Didn't it used to have oysters?

Hmmm. Did something kill them?

[ensho]

9. it had everything!

my parents had a place on Leason Cove which is by Soloman's Island and I spent many a happy hour in a skiff exploring.

[WriteDown]

12. Geez, your parents must have had some cash.

Does sound like fun though.

[ensho]

15. not really, my father and brother did most of the bldg. wk. after the

shell of the house was put up.

they were upper middle class way back when the middle class family could live on one paycheck

[wordpix]

6. BOYCOTT PERDUE - that would teach them a thing or two

I wouldn't buy a Perdue chicken if you paid me

[jtrockville]

10. I can't remember the last time I bought a corporate chicken.

Purdue, Tysons, or otherwise.

I buy straight from a small local farm at the farm market on Saturday, or at My Organic Market (who buys straight from a small local farm). These small farms don't "manufacture" chickens.

[DissedByBush]

11. Tasteless pseudo-meat

I avoid manufactured chicken when possible.

Free range (uh, all chickens are organic, duh) tastes so much better.

This isn't me wanting to be hippy-dippy "organic" either influencing what I think things taste like due to a label. Watch the Penn & Teller Bullshit! on organics if you don't know what I mean.

One day my wife brought home a whole chicken for our chicken soup as usual, but it came out so much better than before using the same recipe.

I asked what was different and she said she put an extra dollar or so down on a free range bird.

Free range ever since!

It's worth it.

[earcandle]

7. I would love to see my sister-in-law get involved in this. She is a tiger and lives on the Eastern

Shore... I think I will give her a call! 

[wordpix]

13. definitely give her a call and join Chesapeake Bay Foundation or other

[Quantess]

14. Aren't there farmers who would buy chicken manure?

Or am I way off?