Chicken farm giant linked to River Wye decline was sued over water blight in US
One of the world’s biggest food giants with a supply chain linked to the ecological decline of the River Wye faced claims over similar pollution scandals in the US, the Observer can reveal.
Campaigners warned two years ago that the clear waters of the Wye, one of Britain’s best-loved rivers, were being blighted by thick green algae blooms linked to poultry production.
Many of the intensive chicken farms in the catchment area of the Wye supply Avara Foods in Hereford, which is the third largest poultry producer in Britain and is jointly owned by the American food business Cargill.
It is claimed that vast amounts of manure from chicken farms supplying Avara and other food businesses are washed into the Wye, contaminating the water with excessive phosphate levels that fuel the growth of algae blooms.
An investigation by the Observer has found the potential impact could have been foreseen from legal action stretching back two decades in Oklahoma in the US. Cargill was sued in two separate cases over claims of pollution of water courses from chicken farms in its supply chain.
In 2001, Cargill was among six firms sued by the city of Tulsa over manure polluting lakes Eucha and Spavinaw. The court documents state: “Tulsa alleges the water supply has been adversely affected by an increase of nutrients, specifically phosphorus, which has in turn resulted in excessive algae growth.”
The companies settled out of court, agreeing to pay a combined $7.5m with no admission of liability. They argued that their contracted growers were responsible for managing waste from their farms.
Four years later, in a separate case, the farming supply chains of Cargill and other poultry producers were accused by Oklahoma of polluting the Illinois River, a
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