Tyson Foods donates $500,000 toward water conservation

A year after an acidic chemical release mishap by Tyson Foods in Monett, Mo., the meat giant announced a collaboration with the Nature Conservancy in an effort to protect rivers and streams in Northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri.

Tyson Foods contributed $500,000 to the collaboration effort on Wednesday July 15 as volunteers from the company and the Nature Conservancy picked up trash and debris along Spring Creek in Springdale.

Tyson said the funds will help support stream restoration, reforestation, erosion prevention, unpaved road improvements, watershed research and community engagement in conservation projects throughout the area, including the Kings, Elk and Buffalo Rivers.
 
“We are very appreciative that Tyson wants to work with The Nature Conservancy. They have been supporting The Nature Conservancy and the conservation work of other organizations for decades. We are particularly excited they have developed this program to fund water quality improvement projects and are looking forward to working together with their employees on some of the most beloved rivers of northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri,” said Scott Simon, director for the Arkansas Chapter of the Nature Conservancy.

This larger bi-state region is home to more than 14,000 Tyson Foods employees, eight processing plants, and over 800 contract farmers. The company also said it owns seven pre-treatment wastewater facilities in the region.
 
“Our footprint in this area is significant and along with that comes an important responsibility to conserve our precious natural resources,” said Mike Roetzel, Springdale-native and Tyson Foods’ group vice president of operation services. “This is just one way we hope to protect the quality of life we experience in this beautiful part of the country.”

Tyson Foods reached a settlement with Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster in January for the company’s faulty release of a highly acidic substance used in animal feed into the city of Monett’s sewer system. The discharge caused the city’s wastewater treatment system to fail and contaminated containing a high level of ammonia flowed into Clear Creek killing 100,000 fish.

Tyson paid the state $163,898 for natural resource damages as well as $110,000 in civil penalties. The Springdale-based meat company also agreed to reimburse the state’s Nature Resources department $11,000 in expenses related to the mishap, while the state’s conservation office received $36,000 in related expenses.