The HSUS and Delaware Riverkeeper Network Fight Water Pollution from Foie Gras Factory Farm |
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September 6, 2006
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Farm Sanctuary
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On a scenic hillside leading down to the Middle Mongaup River in the Delaware River watershed sits Hudson Valley Foie Gras, a foie gras factory farm near Ferndale, N.Y. Approximately 250,000 ducks are intensively confined there on dirty warehouse floors. Two or three times a day, workers force pipes down the ducks' throats, pumping food into their bodies until their livers become diseased and expand to more than 10 times their normal size. Many die from the process. Those who survive the cruel and harrowing force-feeding process are then killed, and their enlarged livers are processed to become foie gras.
Dirty Living, Dirty Water
The practice of producing foie gras is inhumane and painful for the birds involved. But when The HSUS and the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, an environmental organization that works to protect the Delaware River and its tributaries, began looking more closely at the facility, more than animal cruelty was uncovered. According to the facility's own records, Hudson Valley Foie Gras has violated the federal Clean Water Act and state environmental laws more than 500 times in just the past five years.
A cocktail of chemicals—including phosphorus, chlorine, fecal coliform and ammonia—flows from the facility's discharge pipe directly into the river. The pollution primarily stems from factory farm's slaughter plant waste, which contains animal feces, blood and entrails. Hudson Valley Foie Gras also discharges massive amounts of manure onto nearby fields. The manure then runs off into the Middle Mongaup River.
The pollution from Hudson Valley Foie Gras' animal factory can seriously—and deleteriously—affect the river's ecosystem, as well as public health. Chlorine, for example, is extremely toxic to aquatic life. Phosphorus and nitrogen are nutrients that can stimulate excessive plant growth, contributing to algal blooms, nuisance plants, and fish kills. And the presence of fecal coliform indicates that water may be contaminated with fecal matter and microorganisms that cause human disease.
On September 6, 2006, The HSUS filed suit to stop Hudson Valley Foie Gras' pollution and force the facility to pay thousands of dollars in penalties for its past Clean Water Act violations. The same day, Delaware Riverkeeper filed a legal notice informing the factory farm of its intent to sue for the same violations.
Foie Gras Under Fire
The production of foie gras in New York—the largest producer in the United States—has become increasingly controversial.
Bills are currently pending in the New York Assembly and Senate to outlaw the practice of force-feeding ducks and geese. The HSUS is encouraging New York legislators to follow California's lead, where a ban on the force-feeding of birds for foie gras production goes into effect in 2012. Even municipalities are following suit. Chicago recently banned the sale of foie gras on animal cruelty grounds.
In June, The HSUS and several organizations filed an action with the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets to have foie gras declared "adulterated" and thus banned from distribution as food. The HSUS based its demand on more than 900 pages of evidence clearly showing that foie gras is produced from birds who suffer from diseased livers, blood toxicity and nerve damage.
And in August, The HSUS filed suit against the State of New York and Hudson Valley Foie Gras, challenging the state's decision to grant the factory farm $420,000 to expand its facility. The HSUS' suit demands that the state rescind its decision to subsidize Hudson Valley Foie Gras' cruelty by spending tax-payer funds to expand the defendant's already polluting facility.
See the Video
Forced Feeding at Hudson Valley
Foie Gras
Related Links
HSUS v. HVFG, LLC (Foie gras factory farm pollution)
Force-Fed Abuse
Ducks Photo Gallery
New York Foie Gras Farms Challenged
Factory Farms: Polluting the Environment and Getting Away with It
Chicago Won’t Swallow Foie Gras Cruelty
Marks Dairy Farm Pays for Manure Spill
California Decides to Permanently Pull Foie Gras Off the Menu
