January 7, 2003

CONTACT:

Nathaniel Garrett, (415) 977-5627

Sierra Club and Meat Producer Reach Cleanup Agreement

Seaboard Farms Settlement Resolves Water Pollution Problems with Technology, Conservation

San Francisco, CA-The Sierra Club announced today that it has reached partial settlement of a lawsuit against the Seaboard Corporation, concerning pollution at one of the largest hog factories in North America. The agreement comes in the wake of a major plant overhaul recently completed by Seaboard to improve water pollution controls at the 25,000-head Dorman Sow Farms hog factory in western Oklahoma, and to set up a sophisticated monitoring system to ensure that nearby drinking water sources are protected. Seaboard will also contribute $100,000 to wetlands conservation efforts through Ducks Unlimited and the Playa Lakes Joint Venture for conservation projects in Oklahoma's panhandle.

"Seaboard responded to our lawsuit by agreeing to build safeguards against the hazards posed by hog waste to local drinking water sources and the Beaver River," said Pat Gallagher, Director of Sierra Club's Legal Program. "By improving the facility with technological solutions for many of the health and environmental problems caused by waste runoff, local communities will now be better protected from water pollution."

Today's settlement represents one of the largest solutions-oriented agreements ever reached between an environmental group and an animal production company. In addition to its recent facility overhaul, Seaboard has agreed to: · Revise its Pollution Prevention Plan to ensure that waste management systems will not pollute local surface or ground waters; · Monitor Nitrogen levels in nearby soil; · Conduct regular inspections after hog waste is applied to land; and · Allow annual inspections by Sierra Club representatives.

The settlement also requires Seaboard to address potential water pollution issues at four additional facilities in Oklahoma. Under the agreement, Seaboard will implement a step-by-step process to evaluate levels of nitrates in groundwater and wells at those facilities, and take concrete steps to reduce high levels of nitrates when they pose a threat to human health or the environment. Nitrate pollution is a serious threat to drinking water in many areas of the country, and is associated with so-called "blue baby" syndrome.

Today's announcement partially resolves a lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club in July of 2000. Under the lawsuit, Sierra Club had accused Seaboard's Dorman Sow Farms of violating critical environmental protections like the Clean Water Act and the federal Superfund law. The settlement resolves all of the water pollution claims in the lawsuit. The Sierra Club's federal Superfund claim will continue to be litigated in front of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. That claim concerns Seaboard's obligation to report ammonia gas emissions at the Dorman plant.

"Our lawsuit was intended to compel Seaboard to use practices and technology that protects local communities from the water pollution that so often accompanies these huge animal factories," explained Gallagher. "This settlement ensures that human health and the environment will be protected, and we hope this will encourage other large meat factories to act responsibly and adopt similar safeguards."

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For an electronic copy of the settlement, please call Nathaniel Garrett at (415) 977-5627.