Fun with Press Releases; OaklandNews goes one-on-one with some guy from "Feedstuffs Newspaper"

Part I This is what the Sierra Club's press release was supposed to say:

TYSON ON THE HOOK FOR FACTORY FARM POLLUTION

Court Rules that Tyson is Liable for Failure to Report Dangerous Ammonia Emissions

Owensboro, Kentucky -- A federal court in Kentucky ruled today that food giant Tyson is responsible for pollution at factory farms. The Sierra Club and local residents sued Tyson for failing to report hazardous releases of ammonia from four animal factories under its supervision, located in Webster, McClean, and Hopkins counties. Animal factories are huge chicken production operations that pack tens of thousands of chickens into closed buildings. When people breathe ammonia, the toxic gas can cause respiratory problems, and in some cases can be fatal.

"This decision is a huge victory for Kentuckians," said Aloma Dew, Conservation Organizer for the Sierra Club. "Tyson is finally being held accountable for the mess created by its giant animal factories."

Under both the Superfund law and Community-Right-to-Know laws, which form the basis of the Sierra Club lawsuit, polluters that emit more than 100 pounds of ammonia per day must report those releases to the federal government and the local community emergency coordinator. The legislation was enacted so that governments and members of the public could learn what hazards they face from potential toxic substance releases.

Tyson had argued that it was not responsible for pollution from its factory farms because the operations are run by people who raise chickens for Tyson under contract. Federal Court Judge Joseph McKinley saw through Tyson's arguments, ruling that Tyson is "clearly in a position of responsibility and power with respect to each facility... and has the capacity to prevent and abate the alleged environmental damage."

"This court confirmed that Tyson is not above the law," explained Sierra Club attorney Barclay Rogers. "Tyson must pay for the problems it causes."

"Giant, corporate-owned factory farms are polluting our air and water, and are displacing local family farms. Today, the court dealt a blow to corporate agriculture that has crept into Kentucky, threatening the way of life of our family farmers who believe in good-neighbor practices and care about the land and the law," said Dew.

Part II: Due to a bizarre glitch, this man's response came along with the Sierra Club's press release

I'm not aware of this exact one case, but there are so many of these kind of cases being filed against so many of these kind of companies/producers that it's not possible for a staff of so few people to keep up with all this, and besides it will be appealed for years. If we want to follow something like this, someone will have to become the "factory farm lawsuit editor" in addition to their other 100 hats.

What's the priroity?

I just don't know how to handle this and the gazzillion other things that we have to follow in the turnip patch. If you want to try and follolw this, go ahead, but you'll need to do 30 other stories a week on the same kind of thing to provide balanced and fair coverage.

Note that the "news release" is from the Sierra Club.

Rod Smith Feedstuffs Newspaper 12400 Whitewater -- Suite 160 Minnetonka, Minnesota 55343-9466

Desk (952) 930-4347 Fax (952) 938-1832 rodsmith@feedstuffs.com

Parts III and IV; OaklandNews editor sends Rod Smith a reply and cc's her reply to the Sierra Club Media Team

Sometimes our job is actually fun..... ----- Forwarded by Kerri Glover/Sierraclub on 11/11/2003 03:45 PM -----

David Willett To: #Media 11/11/2003 cc: 03:39 PM Subject: Feedback

So the editor of OaklandNews apparently disagrees with that guy at Feed News (Rod Smith) who posted an e-mail to our press release list. She copied me on her response. Here's the best line:

"The Tyson bastards deserve a shitrain to fall on them, especially on festive, outdoor occasions."

What the easily distrcted OaklandNews editor sent to Mr. Smith:

Dear Mr. Smith, I don't know about my fellow editors, but usually when I see something from the Sierra Club that says "Press release" or "Media Advisory" I believe that the information presented is their take on an environmental story.

You think in the Tyson case it's hard to tell who the good guys are. I think that once you've seen, heard or smelled a pig/chicken/beef farm, once you've heard that the greatest threat from a hurricane is overflowing "wasteponds", once you do basic math (how much feces and urine per animal per day times how many animals times how many days) it's really goddamn easy.

The Tyson bastards deserve a shitrain to fall on them, especially on festive, outdoor occasions.

Sincerely,

Jeannette Sherwin Editor OaklandNews.com