Poultry Waste Dumping Causes Concern in Marshall County

Rachel Osier Lindley | June 16, 2016

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At any given time there are roughly 5 million broiler chickens being raised in Marshall County, Alabama. It ranks third in the state for poultry production. While the industry creates more than 1,500 jobs, it also creates a lot of poultry waste. Some Marshall County residents say a Tyson chicken processing plant is disposing of leftover chicken remnants in a possible health-threatening way: an open-air lagoon. Reporter Cody Owens writes about it in this week’s edition of WELD.

“You ready?” John Mitchell asked, before rolling the down the passenger window of his truck just outside of Boaz, Alabama. “Brace yourself.”

As the window opened the smell of the nearby holding pond in Marshall County, where poultry processing plants dump leftover chicken waste, burst into the cab of the truck.

The overwhelming odor knocks people back, Mitchell said, covering his nose and mouth. It’s a bitter taste of rot.

Owens joined WBHM’s Rachel Osier Lindley to discuss this story and why there’s little legal recourse for people like John Mitchell.