Environmental Integrity Project assessed water pollution by nearly 100 large meat-processing facilities in the U.S., The Chicago Tribune reported .
The report found meat-processing giant JBS’s Beardstown plant released about an average of 1,850 pounds of nitrogen daily into an Illinois River tributary.
The discharges are within limits placed by the Clean Water Act.
The company said it’s inaccurate to imply that the plant makes discharges daily when it only discharged 295 days last year.
"The JBS Beardstown pork facility is well within its permitting requirements and has achieved improved environmental compliance since our acquisition of the facility in late October 2015," the company said in a statement.
"Those pollutants include nitrogen, which is a chronic water pollutant across the U.S., especially in rural areas."
The wastewater typically goes through a treatment facility, but residual nutrients such as nitrogen can stimulate algae blooms that deplete oxygen levels as they decompose.
This can suffocate fish and create dead zones.
Schaeffer said the report’s findings indicate a need to revisit the limits on slaughterhouse waste, which were last modified in 2004.
"What we’re seeing is that permit limits are too relaxed."