A satellite image showing what appears to be a large waste lagoon attached to commercial cattle feedlot may shock you.
The image, posted to Reddit, seems to be pulled from Google Images. According to the site, the feedlot is Coronado Feeders, located in Dalhart, Tex.
Waste lagoons have raised the ire of environmentalists who say such lagoons can cause indelible harm to surrounding land and communities.
According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a non-profit environmental advocacy group, these lagoons often break, leak or overflow, allowing microbes from animal waste to seep into the ground and contaminate air and water supplies.
"People who live near or work at factory farms breathe in hundreds of gases, which are formed as manure decomposes," reads the NRDC website. "For instance, one gas released by the lagoons, hydrogen sulfide, is dangerous even at low levels. Its effects -- which are irreversible -- range from sore throat to seizures, comas and even death."
Even the Environmental Protection Agency recognizes the way waste is handled by some companies has become problematic:
[The] growing scale and concentration of [Animal feeding operations] has contributed to negative environmental and human health impacts. Pollution associated with AFOs degrades the quality of waters, threatens drinking water sources, and may harm air quality.
Coronado Feeders is run by major meat producer JBS. Calls to both Coronado Feeders and JBS were not returned.
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