Bizarre, Religion, Torts

Texas Company Accused Of Dumping Pig Blood Into River Used For Recreation

In Texas, investigators are demanding answers from Dallas meat-packing company Columbia Packing Company after photos appeared to show the company dumping pig blood into the Trinity River. The case raises some interesting legal questions.

The alleged violations were found by a man taking aerial photographs of the river.

The Texas Environmental Crimes Task Force is focusing on a a secondary pipe not connected with the waste water system where the blood appears to have been dumped into Cedar Creek and then into the Trinity River.

The plant has been in repeated legal problems including citations in 2008 and 2009 for inhumane treatment or slaughter of animals.

What is interesting is that the Trinity empties into the city’s new whitewater kayaking area. So Texans have been recreating in water possible saturated with pig blood and toxic chemicals from the plant. Not only would most people find swimming in pig blood rather offensive, but some people of the Jewish and Muslim faith would find such exposure to be emotionally distressing. They could argue that the exposure constitute battery and negligent infliction of emotional distress. It would make for a fascinating case, particularly on the question of damages. The company could argue that the exposure does not mean that the blood was actually digested — reducing the possible distress damages.

Restaurants have been sued for unknowingly serving prohibited foods like beef to Hindus. Another such lawsuit involved serving pork to a Muslim. Actually swimming in pig blood would seem to raise some obvious problems for civil lawsuits in addition to the environmental criminal allegations faced by the company.

Source: CBS

27 thoughts on “Texas Company Accused Of Dumping Pig Blood Into River Used For Recreation”

  1. AY wrote:

    I had to look that up….Oh my….They must be as much fun as a person recovering from a stroke….I have heard of personality changes from them….

    ——————-

    AY,

    It isn’t pretty…

  4. AN,

    I had to look that up….Oh my….They must be as much fun as a person recovering from a stroke….I have heard of personality changes from them….

  5. AY, I’ve had a few patients with Creutzfeld-Jakob disease and in a couple of cases it was linked to blood sausage… It’s pretty wicked — the disease… Personally, I’d skip it… — the blood sausage…

  6. pete,

    If I recall it is also called Blood Pudding….Black Pudding….Blood Sausage….Yes….Gross….but good…

  7. model t floorboards were also made from the crates.

    i believe summer sausage is made from boiled down pigs blood.

  8. the question I would like to ask the plant is why cant they turn the blood into a product? I know that there are squirrel and dear repellents made from dried blood. Blood meal is a good fertilizer and I am sure there are many other uses for waste blood.

    Henry Ford made charcoal from the wood pallets his parts came on. He even specified what wood he wanted the pallets made from.

  9. um, wouldn’t that be the city’s new redwater kayaking area.

    or

    texas, where you can swim and bar-bee-que at the same time

  10. DUMB DRUNKARDS THINK BY SPREADING DIRTY BLOOD IN WATER TURD JESUS CRUCIFIX WILL FLOATING

    ( ANY BLOOD WHICH CAME OUT OF SKIN
    FROM HUMAN/ANIMALS WERE
    HARAM
    IN ISLAM
    ALLAH IN AL’QURAN FORBADE
    ISLAM BELIEVERS
    TO TOUCH IT
    LET ALONE
    TO EAT IT
    OR DRINK IT
    BECAUSE ALL BLOOD LIKE PIG/SWINE
    ARE DIRTY
    CONTAINED ALL DEATHLY BACTERIAS / VIRUSES )

    OR
    THAT DUMB DRUNKARD THINK
    BY SPREADING BLOOD TO THE RIVER COULD MAKE
    THE WATER ON RIVER TURN
    TO TASTE LIKE WINE

  12. YAWN . . . Texas . . . . Bidness . . . Corporation . . . environment . . . slap on wrist, if that

  13. Toxins would include MRSA, antibiotics and steroids fed to the pigs, hormones, etc. I do not eat CAFO meat for this reason. Over 50% of CAFO workers tested positive for MRSA with skin swabs, even when they were healthy.

  14. Here is just one more example of what would happen nation wide if the market is allowed to take care of pollution issues. I wonder if Ron Paul has read about this article.

  15. Well, this is clearly illegal, but for those of you who don’t live in Dallas, let me just say that this is hardly the worst thing to be found in the waters of the Trinity River. Exposing your body to it is already considered a kind of extreme sport.

  16. That ain’t the only thing that ends up in the Trinity….There used to be a sheriff in Dallas that upheld his promises to folks….that if they did not leave voluntarily….that he’d make sure they never came back…..I have heard that he kept his word….

  17. A pipe draining blood directly into the river? A photo of same, or better yet, a video of said pipe emitting blood into the river, displayed before the jury, during closing argument. You can get punitives for intentional infliction of emotional distress. As a plaintiff, I would want a distressed Baptist neighbor with water frontage, not a Muslim kayaker or any plaintiff who yaks too much.
    If there are any such potential plaintiffs out there give this dog a call so we can talk. This is a good case. 1-800-DOG-4RUS

  20. I often ponder the mentality and morality of those who put their bottom line way ahead of any sense of responsibility to the society as a whole. This type of behavior speaks to me of either sociopathy and/or the inability to empathize with ones neighbors by self justifying denial.

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