Department of Justice, environmental groups sue Campbell Soup, alleging it's been polluting Lake Erie
Source: CBS News
Updated on: March 22, 2024 / 3:17 AM EDT
The U.S. Department of Justice and environmental groups filed two lawsuits against Campbell accusing the soup giant of polluting Lake Erie.
Both lawsuits were filed in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Ohio hours apart alleging similar complaints that Campbell's manufacturing plant in Napoleon, Ohio, has allowed wastewater and pollutants to flow unchecked into the Maumee River, which flows into Lake Erie, for years. The two suits are expected to be consolidated into a single case.
"The toxic algae in Lake Erie is hardly the kind of soup that Ohioans want from a company like Campbell," John Rumpler, the Clean Water Program Director for Environment Ohio, one of the advocacy groups involved in the lawsuit, said in a statement. The facility generates millions of gallons of wastewater from its canning operations, which includes heat process washing, blending and filling cans and other containers to produce fruit and vegetable juices, sauces and soups.
Bacteria, E. coli and phosphorus were among some of the pollutants found in the waters, the lawsuits allege. In a statement to CBS News, Campbell Soup said it had "taken a number of steps to improve our existing wastewater management operations and will continue to take immediate action to address this issue."
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/campbell-soup-lake-erie-doj-environmental-groups-lawsuit-pollution/
= new reply since forum marked as read
