Plaintiffs Cape Fear River Watch, et al. filed complaint against Defendants the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Michael S. Regan, administrator of the EPA. Complaint alleges EPA failed to at least annually revise, if appropriate, the effluent limitations guidelines for the Meat and Poultry Products (MPP) industrial point source category, and failed to publish regulations establishing pretreatment standards for introduction of pollutants from MPP facilities into publicly owned treatment works.

As a result of our litigation, the EPA agreed to finalize new water pollution control regulations for slaughterhouses and animal rendering facilities by August 2025.

The expansion of CAFOs, commonly known as factory farms, has caused a range of human rights abuses in the United States and across the American continents

EPA agrees to strengthen standards for the nation’s largest industrial source of phosphorus pollution — and second-largest industrial source of nitrogen pollution — by 2025

Earthjustice urges the Senate to hold the industry accountable and ensure consumer and worker safety at all levels of our food supply chain

The misuse of these medicines has contributed to the rise and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria — a growing public health crisis responsible for 35,000 deaths and over 2.8 million cases of illness each year in the United States

To protect the safety of consumers, meat processing workers and farming communities, a coalition of public health advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and its Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), challenging the refusal to phase out unnecessary uses of antibiotics in animal agriculture.

While necessary action in reducing emissions from food production and food waste were included in the Final Scoping Plan, transformative strategies such as methane emissions limitations were left on the table

EPA’s current approach to CAFO permitting exposes millions of people to harm, in violation of the Clean Water Act, as well as executive orders aimed at advancing environmental justice.

The thematic hearing request is supported by 243 organizations, including petitioning groups from Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Ecuador, and the United States. The request urges the commission, which monitors human rights within the Organization of American States, to investigate human rights abuses resulting from the unchecked expansion of concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, across the Americas.

The objective of the hearing would be to present detailed information on the harms to human rights caused by industrial meat-, egg-, and dairy-production facilities—commonly known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)—in the Americas, with an emphasis on human rights abuses from CAFOs in Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, and the United States. Because CAFOs hold up to hundreds of thousands of poultry, swine, dairy cows, or other animals in close confinement, they pose serious threats to human health and the environment.

El objetivo de la audiencia sería presentar información detallada sobre los daños a los derechos humanos causados por las operaciones agroindustriales de producción de carne, huevos y productos lácteos—conocidas comúnmente como “fábricas de carne” o CAFO por sus siglas en inglés (Operaciones Concentradas de Alimentación de Animales)—en las Américas, con énfasis en los abusos a los derechos humanos de las fábricas de carne en Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, México y Estados Unidos. Dado que las fábricas de carne albergan hasta cientos de miles de pollos, cerdos, ganado vacuno y otros animales en estrecho confinamiento, suponen una grave amenaza para la salud humana y el medio ambiente.

Alongside our partners, Earthjustice is working to reform the food and farming system, driving the transition from current industrial practices, which churn out unhealthy food and substantial quantities of pollution, to a new model that prioritizes the sustainable production of nutritious food.

Scientific studies, community stories, and a new report on environmental justice show that industrial meat- and dairy-production facilities harm public health and the environment, especially in communities of color, low-income communities, and under-resourced rural communities nationwide

Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) densely house thousands of animals in confined areas. CAFOs in the United States commonly store animal manure in open lagoons and apply manure to nearby fields. These processes can pollute the water and air with pathogens and chemicals that impair the quality of life and physical health of neighboring communities. Iowa (IA) and North Carolina (NC) are two of the leading swine producers in the United States, while California (CA) is the nation’s leading milk producer. Report by Quist, Johnston, and Fliss.

A nationwide coalition of 50 citizens’ groups and community advocacy, environmental justice, and environmental advocacy organizations, together representing tens of millions of people, in partnership with Earthjustice, petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to improve its oversight of water pollution from industrial-scale concentrated animal feeding operations, commonly known as Large CAFOs. The petitioning groups argue that improved oversight of Large CAFOs is necessary to satisfy the federal Clean Water Act and executive orders intended to advance environmental justice.

A nationwide coalition of 50 citizens’ groups and community advocacy, environmental justice, and environmental advocacy organizations, together representing tens of millions of people, in partnership with Earthjustice, petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to improve its oversight of water pollution from industrial-scale concentrated animal feeding operations, commonly known as Large CAFOs. The petitioning groups argue that improved oversight of Large CAFOs is necessary to satisfy the federal Clean Water Act and executive orders intended to advance environmental justice.

Public health experts, conservationists present evidence to court of harm to human health, environment