Week 6 Assignment - Assessing Environmental Risks from Human Activity

Week 6 Assignment - Assessing Environmental Risks From Human Activity Student’s Name Professor’s Name Institutional Affiliations Course Name and Number Due Date Week 6 Assignment - Assessing Environmental Risks From Human Activity Waterway contamination through wastewater disposal from slaughterhouses has remained one of the minimized environmental risks in the United States. Global meat production activities have raised concern due to their increased adverse ecological impacts, yet regulators continue overlooking their effects. According to Lakhani (2024), companies such as Tyson Foods discharge large volumes of contaminated waters into rivers, threatening the lives of the neighboring communities, environmental sustainability, and aquatic life. Meat production activities, especially at slaughterhouses, worsen water pollution due to the diverse wastes and unethical disposal methods. Lakhani (2024) indicates that Tyson Foods units, especially the Dakota City, located one release concerning volumes of wastewater containing chloride, nitrogen, cyanide, animal feces, bacteria, and blood. The severity of this environmental risk informs the need to conduct a risk analysis, explore its communication, and likely strategies for managing and reducing the associated harm. Risk Analysis Findings from diverse studies uncover the widespread waterways contamination by Tyson Foods in the U.S. For instance, Lakhani (2024) reported that from 2018 to 2022, the company’s 41 facilities released over 371m lb of oil, phosphorus, cyanide, and nitrogen pollutants as part of the “87bn gallons of wastewater.” The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (2023) reports similar practices by indicating scenarios of contaminated waste discharge by the company in rivers and lakes nationwide. Such aspects have led to widespread pollution of the environment, adversely affecting the water quality and compromising the concept of environmental sustainability. According to Lakhani (2024), Tyson Foods’ 41 facilities in 17 U.S. states contaminate water by releasing concealed waste into streams, wetlands, and lakes. Such actions compromise the environmental quality and threaten the health of locals. Exposure to the wastes occurs in diverse ways. For instance, Winders and Abrell (2021) demonstrate that aquatic life shoulder significant impact directly due to the destruction of their ecosystem. The authors also indicate that the varied pollutants contaminate the drinking water through seepage and runoff that eventually enter the supplies. EPA (2023) also describes situations implicating this company, including the 2014 issue in Monnett, Missouri, where the firm dumped wastewater with high ammonia levels, leading to devastating effects. This case caused poisoning that destroyed the fish population in Clear Creek, attracting associated lawsuits and fines. Lakhani (2024) also indicates that Tyson Foods dumped over half of the wastes recorded from 2018 – 2022 in Illinois, Nebraska, and Missouri. Such releases triggered harmful environmental impacts. The concentration of slaughterhouse facilities within communities of concern makes water contamination a health risk. For instance, Winders and Abrell (2021) note that the EPA recognizes that over 74% of facilities implicated with poor wastewater dumping are located near census block clusters. Such an aspect makes water and aquatic life contamination a health risk that leads to varied health conditions. The chemicals and bacteria risk outbreaks include autoimmune illnesses, asthma attacks, congenital disabilities, gastrointestinal complications, cancers, and varied infections (Winders & Abrell, 2021). EPA (2023) flags diverse poisonous compounds, such as excessive nitrates-nitrite ratios in drinking ...