The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced it plans to update its water pollution control standards for meat production facilities for the first time in nearly 20 years following a lawsuit filed by environmental groups.
The agency on March 1 published its proposed consent decree that would resolve a lawsuit filed by environmental and conservation groups Cape Fear River Watch, Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help, Waterkeepers Chesapeake, Waterkeeper Alliance, Humane Society of the United States, Food & Water Watch, Environment America, Comite Civico del Valle, Center for Biological Diversity, and the Animal Legal Defense Fund.
Those groups had argued in their lawsuit in 2019 that the EPA failed to perform duties mandated by the Clean Water Act (CWA) and to revise guidelines regarding the regulation of water pollution stemming from slaughterhouses and meat production facilities….