Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 5/1/18



A group of investors is asking the Pilgrim's Pride board of directors to adopt and implement a water stewardship policy designed to reduce risks of water contamination from from the company’s direct operations and supply chain.

Ahead of Pilgrim’s Pride’s May 10 annual meeting, Oblate International Pastoral Investment Trust filed the proposal (which will be included in the proxy statement), along with co-filers Friends Fiduciary, Adrian Dominican Sisters, Mercy Investment Services and Park Foundation.

The investor groups filed the proposal out of concern about the financial and reputational risks associated with water contamination from the company’s operations and its supply chain.

The proposal asks Pilgrim’s Pride to:
• Adopt and implement a comprehensive water stewardship policy designed to reduce risks of water contamination from Pilgrim’s direct operations and supply chain. The policy should include requirements for leading practices for nutrient management and pollutant limits throughout direct operations, contract farms, and feed suppliers, with a focus on verifiably reducing nitrate contamination; financial and technical support to help implement the policy; robust and transparent measures to prevent water pollution incidents; specific time-bound goals to ensure conformance with the policy. 
• Assess its water quality-related risks, including wastewater discharge from processing facilities, manure management practices of owned animal operations and contract animal operations, as well as fertilizer run-off pollution associated with feed production and;
• Produce transparent mechanism to regularly disclose progress on adoption and implementation of the policy.

The investor groups noted that Pilgrim’s last year was required to pay $1.43 million in penalties to reduce pollution in the Suwannee River watershed in Florida.

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