What the Turkey Leaves Behind

Preparing the Thanksgiving bird can be stressful –- how to roast it, what to stuff it with, and the list goes on and on. Even if we consider where the bird comes from, if we buy organic or local for instance, few us give much thought to what the birds leave behind.

The Environmental Protection Agency says that livestock and poultry operations generate about 500 million tons of manure each year. That’s about three times the nation’s human waste. The untreated waste can dump large quantities of nitrogen and phosphorus into public waterways.

The resulting algae blooms deplete the water's oxygen, killing fish and other organisms, and the E. Coli and other bacteria in the runoff can threaten human health. Now imagine flying over these huge poultry farms and looking down on all this manure.

Rick Dove has made it his mission. He’s a retired marine who photographs illegal mounds of poultry manure that run off into streams and waterways. We read about Rick Dove in the wall street journal and invited him to tell his story.

Wall Street Journal: Chicken Litter -- The Aerial Hunt for Poultry Manure

Associated Press: More Delays in Oklahoma Poultry Waste Pollution Trial

Associated Press: New rules on factory farm pollution too lax?

(Photo courtesy of Rick Dove)