Latest news with #environmentalconcerns
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Animal rendering plant responds - as MP calls for it to be shut down over bad smells
A BRADFORD business has said it "makes every effort to minimise odours" - after an MP urged the Council to take steps to shut its operations down amid concerns about bad smells. For years, residents and businesses have complained about odours allegedly linked to the P Waddington animal rendering plant, off Hammerton Street. This week, Imran Hussain, Bradford East Labour MP, wrote to Bradford Council demanding that it looks at the legal options it can take against Waddington & Co (1947) Ltd, with a view to closing its operations. Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of the Council, said the 'very offensive smells are hugely frustrating' for the area and 'need to stop'. P Waddington has been based in the city since the 1880s, and is one of just a handful of animal by-product rendering facilities in the UK. Dead animals and animal parts - such as bone, offal and hooves - are transported to the site from across the country and then recycled into energy and biofuels. P Waddington - which is owned by Sheffield-based company J G Pears Group - said it "understands concerns of residents and businesses located close to our facility", adding that its "operations are within the strict requirements of our environmental permit and odour management plan". 'Lives blighted' Mr Hussain told the Telegraph & Argus: "For years I have been campaigning for Waddingtons to take action and deal with the foul odours and long-standing concerns of local residents, whose lives have been seriously blighted. "I've written to Bradford Council demanding that they look at all the legal options available to deal with Waddington & Co, with a view to closing down their operation." He said the Council "must look at legal options to act decisively in the public interest". Bradford East MP Imran Hussain (Image: Parliament) He added: "This is not just unpleasant for residents - it's a serious public health issue. "For years, residents have had their lives made a misery. "I'm informed it's getting worse: more frequent, more intense, and more disruptive. "We need a legal solution to fix this situation. "I'm also calling on Bradford City Council to have an urgent debate on this and consider all legal option available." Cllr Hinchcliffe told the T&A: "The very offensive smells are hugely frustrating for the local community and for the wider district and need to stop. Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford Council (Image: Newsquest) "We are making so many improvements to the city centre that we now expect everyone to step up, play their part and clean up their act. "As leader, I want to make sure Council officers are doing all they can to hold those responsible to account and I will ask them to look at what more we can do. "We'll be replying to the MP, who has consistently made his views very clear on this matter, more formally in due course." 'We make every effort to minimise odours' Alistair Collins, a director at P Waddington, said: "We would like to highlight that we continue to be open to meeting the MP and community representatives to discuss this matter. "We understand the concerns of residents and businesses located close to our facility. "We also recognise the inherent challenges of a site in such a built-up area; however, the facility is in a designated industrial area, and there are other enterprises nearby handling animal products. "P Waddington make every effort to minimise odours beyond the site boundary. "Our operations are within the strict requirements of our environmental permit and odour management plan. "All of this is done in line with the UK Best Available Techniques (BAT). "BAT ensures that industrial installations use the best available techniques to prevent or minimise emissions and environmental impact. "Our permit was granted because the installation uses modern technology and operating procedures compliant with the current BAT standards. "Other installations handling animal by-products in the UK will be using the same techniques to manage odour and emissions. "The installation is regularly inspected by environmental health officers from Bradford Council. "We work with them constructively to ensure compliant operations at the installation in accordance with our environmental permit. "Animal by-product processing facilities like ours play a vital role in making livestock production sustainable and in preventing animal disease outbreaks. "We take animal material not suitable for food and convert it into safe, reusable resources, such as biofuels. "There are robust regulations governing this sector to ensure the protection of public health."
Fast Company
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Fast Company
‘Alligator Alcatraz' merch appears on Amazon and Florida GOP website, making light of controversial facility
In a move clearly meant to celebrate a facility that has raised serious human rights and environmental concerns, online merchants are now selling merchandise that promotes the Everglades-based migrant detention center known as 'Alligator Alcatraz.' The website for the Florida GOP is promoting a shirt, hat, and beverage cooler in support of the quickly constructed, controversial building. The shirt and cooler feature an image of a nondescript building in a swamp with an alligator and snake in front of it. Alligator Alcatraz shirts and hats are also being sold by merchants on Amazon, featuring everything from a buff alligator with a gun to one behind bars for some reason. There's even one dubbed 'retro vintage,' which features a sunbathing alligator. The detention center, meant to hold up to 3,000 beds, has faced backlash from immigrant rights activists, Florida's indigenous community, and countless others, CNN reports. Trump visited the controversial migrant detention center on Tuesday, July 1, alongside Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. A pro-Trump influencer joined the visit and posted on social media that he had received 'official Alligator Alcatraz merch.' Treating the entire experience as amusing rather than evil, Trump emphasized the alligators and snakes surrounding the center. At one point, he stated, 'We're going to teach them how to run away from an alligator if they escape prison. Don't run in a straight line,' according to the New York Times. Yes, that's the American president joking about alligators eating migrants. The advance-rate deadline for the Fast Company Innovation Festival is Friday, July 11, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Claim your pass today!
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Native Americans raise safety concerns over Florida Everglades detention center
A Florida Native American leader spoke out against a new migrant detention facility in the Florida Everglades, nicknamed "Alligator Alcatraz," raising environmental and safety concerns for local tribal communities. President Trump, visiting the site Tuesday, said the facility will hold "some of the most menacing migrants, some of the most vicious people on the planet." The detention center, built on a remote airstrip in the Everglades, can hold up to 5,000 migrants in tents and trailers. Talbert Cypress, chairman of the Miccosukee Business Council, said some tribal villages are located within 900 feet of the facility's entrance. "This proposed facility is surrounded on all sides by the Big Cypress National Preserve, and the tribe has been at home in the Big Cypress for centuries," Cypress told ABC News. Cypress pointed to the lack of environmental studies on what creating the detention center could mean for the local ecosystem. MORE: Trump falsely questions Zohran Mamdani's citizenship, threatens to arrest him over ICE operations "There's been no environmental impact study done. The environmental impact study that was done back in 1974 pretty much suggested that putting any kind of airship in the area was going to have significant impacts on the Everglades," he said. The facility's closeness to traditional Native camps, where Miccosukee and Seminole members live and teach both American and Native education, has raised more concerns. "We're concerned about safety... CBP, also just in general, all the traffic that's going to be coming through there, and flights coming in and out," Cypress said. During the tour with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump highlighted the facility's remote location. "It's very appropriate, because I looked outside and it's not a place I want to go hiking anytime soon," Trump said. "We're surrounded by miles of treacherous swamp land, and the only way out is really deportation." ABC News correspondent Victor Oquendo reported that the administration sees the surrounding wildlife, including alligators and pythons, as a natural barrier for the detention center, stopping migrants from being able to escape. The facility might become a model for similar centers planned in Louisiana and Alabama, Trump told ABC News. New data studied by ABC News shows a shift in enforcement priorities, with more arrests of migrants with no criminal record. DHS responded that 70% of ICE arrests were migrants with a criminal record. Cypress ended with a message to Trump and DeSantis: "President Trump and DeSantis have been very good to the Everglades, and we feel like [this is a] step backwards in their effort."
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Florida tribe fights new 'Alligator Alcatraz' migrant facility near Everglades homes
A Florida Native American leader spoke out against a new migrant detention facility in the Florida Everglades, nicknamed "Alligator Alcatraz," raising environmental and safety concerns for local tribal communities. President Trump, visiting the site Tuesday, said the facility will hold "some of the most menacing migrants, some of the most vicious people on the planet." The detention center, built on a remote airstrip in the Everglades, can hold up to 5,000 migrants in tents and trailers. Talbert Cypress, chairman of the Miccosukee Business Council, said some tribal villages are located within 900 feet of the facility's entrance. "This proposed facility is surrounded on all sides by the Big Cypress National Preserve, and the tribe has been at home in the Big Cypress for centuries," Cypress told ABC News. Cypress pointed to the lack of environmental studies on what creating the detention center could mean for the local ecosystem. MORE: Trump falsely questions Zohran Mamdani's citizenship, threatens to arrest him over ICE operations "There's been no environmental impact study done. The environmental impact study that was done back in 1974 pretty much suggested that putting any kind of airship in the area was going to have significant impacts on the Everglades," he said. The facility's closeness to traditional Native camps, where Miccosukee and Seminole members live and teach both American and Native education, has raised more concerns. "We're concerned about safety... CBP, also just in general, all the traffic that's going to be coming through there, and flights coming in and out," Cypress said. During the tour with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump highlighted the facility's remote location. "It's very appropriate, because I looked outside and it's not a place I want to go hiking anytime soon," Trump said. "We're surrounded by miles of treacherous swamp land, and the only way out is really deportation." ABC News correspondent Victor Oquendo reported that the administration sees the surrounding wildlife, including alligators and pythons, as a natural barrier for the detention center, stopping migrants from being able to escape. The facility might become a model for similar centers planned in Louisiana and Alabama, Trump told ABC News. New data studied by ABC News shows a shift in enforcement priorities, with more arrests of migrants with no criminal record. DHS responded that 70% of ICE arrests were migrants with a criminal record. Cypress ended with a message to Trump and DeSantis: "President Trump and DeSantis have been very good to the Everglades, and we feel like [this is a] step backwards in their effort."
RNZ News
30-06-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Marianas residents voice deep concerns over US military expansion
Tinian mayor Edwin Aldan warns that military activities could devastate ecosystems already threatened by climate change. Photo: Supplied Tinian residents of the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) have voiced urgent concerns over potential environmental and cultural damage from a major United States (US) military training plan during a series of tense public meetings last week. At a packed gathering inside the Tinian Junior/Senior High School cafeteria, Tinian mayor Edwin Aldan issued a stark message to visiting military officials: protect the islands' fragile environment, be transparent with the community, and ensure local people benefit economically from the US Indo-Pacific buildup. "Don't mess around with our environment," Aldan told attendees, warning that military activities could devastate ecosystems already threatened by climate change. He called for rigorous safeguards and community-driven monitoring. The mayor also demanded honesty, saying CNMI residents are frustrated with what they see as vague or contradictory statements from military planners. He pressed for concrete commitments to hire local workers and award contracts to local businesses so the islands' struggling economy-still recovering from the pandemic-can benefit. Noise pollution, potential destruction of cultural sites, and the threat to traditional livelihoods, like farming and ranching, emerged as top worries among community members at meetings held on Tinian, Saipan, and Rota. Environmental fears dominated the discussions, with many residents worried about irreversible harm to coral reefs, native wildlife, and ancestral lands. Multiple speakers pleaded for an extension to the current 75-day comment period on the Revised Draft Environmental Impact Statement (RDEIS), saying more time is needed for communities to digest the thousands of pages of technical documents. Community engagement itself was fraught, with protestors from Prutehi Guåhan and Marianas for Palestine highlighting the lack of a public forum-at least after Day 1 of the public meetings on Tinian. Some protestors connected the Marianas' planned use for military training with ongoing violence abroad. "This is a suicide drone that is being used in Gaza right now," said Abed Salam Castro Younis of Marianas for Palestine. "To support using these death tools here on our homeland, tainting our beautiful image-I'm here to fight against that." Marine Corps Forces Pacific executive director Mark Hashimoto closed the meeting by assuring residents that the new RDEIS reflects significantly more community input and stricter environmental safeguards than past proposals. The public comment period on the RDEIS runs through 20 August.
