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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Charles Watson

At last, a victory for rivers over megafarms: now councils can’t treat toxic waste as someone else’s problem

Masses of
Pullets on a ‘free range’ farm in England. Photograph: Ian Hinchliffe/Alamy

The recent ecological collapse of the River Wye due to pollution from intensive agriculture has been well documented. But the slow-motion repetition of this ecocide on the neighbouring River Severn has largely unfolded out of sight.

For years, local authorities have been waving through industrial-scale livestock production units across the catchment of this iconic river. These toxic megafarms produce vast quantities of animal waste, which is spread on local land with minimal consideration for the cumulative environmental destruction it can cause.

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