Yes.
The Big Sioux River was ranked in the top 10 for the amount of toxic substances released into the watershed in 2020, according to a report by Environment America, but improvements to wastewater treatment at Smithfield Foods has improved the river's quality.
The 2022 “Wasting Our Waterways” report ranked the Big Sioux River watershed sixth in the country for toxic substances released into the river in 2020. The Lower Ohio-Little Pigeon watershed in Indiana and Kentucky ranked No. 1.
Smithfield Foods was a major factor in that ranking, though the amount of nitrates released from the meat packing plant shrunk from 4.9 million pounds in 2020 to 1.1 million pounds in 2024 after the company opened a $45 million wastewater treatment facility.
Smithfield’s discharge is downstream of Falls Parks and the city's core. Ag runoff from upstream is a bigger factor in unsafe river conditions in Sioux Falls.
This fact brief responds to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Environment America, Wasting our Waterways: Toxic pollution and the unfulfilled promise of the Clean Water Act
South Dakota News Watch, Sioux Falls growth forces question: Can Smithfield and Big Sioux River co-exist?
South Dakota News Watch partners with Gigafact to publish fact briefs that refute or confirm a claim with supporting information and additional evidence and context.
- Read previous fact briefs.
- Read our verification standards and other best practices policies.
- Submit a question for us to answer on the South Dakota News Watch Tipline.
- Send questions or feedback to factbrief@sdnewswatch.org.
This story was produced by South Dakota News Watch, an independent, nonprofit organization. Read more stories and donate at sdnewswatch.org and sign up for an email to get stories when they're published. Contact Michael Klinski at michael.klinski@sdnewswatch.org.
