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In 2004, the government released hundreds of pages of documentation exposing [[Bush administration]] granting the [[meat & dairy industry]] control over a proposal to let Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO)s or factory farms, off the hook for pollution violations. The documents revealed the extent of industry influence, with monthly closed door meetings between the administration and industry [[lobbyists]]. In May of 2002, lobbyists proposed a deal to let industry off the hook for violations of the basic environmental protections such as the [[Clean Air Act]] and toxics laws. The EPA's proposed agreement closely mirror's the industry's wish list. Other documents revealed the extent of access granted to industry polluters. Lobbyist even wrote a power-point presentation for the EPA, literally putting words in their mouths. <ref>[http://www.sierraclub.org/pressroom/cafo_papers/ The CAFO Papers: Animal Factories Using Closed-Door Meetings with Bush Administration to Evade Environmental Laws], [[Sierra Club]] Press Room, pg 1-2, May - October 2003</ref>

In August of 1997, [[Smithfield Foods]] was fined 12.6 million dollars for violating the U.S. [[Clean Water Act]] in Smithfield, Virginia by a U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Virginia. It is the largest fine ever imposed under the Clean Water Act. Smithfield was dumping hog waste into the Pagan River, a tributary flowing into the Chesapeake Bay. A May 1997 ruling found the company's failure to install adequate pollution control equipment and properly treat waste water resulted in more than 5,000 violations of permit limits. The violations occurred for over five years and degraded the Pagan River, the James River and the Chesapeake Bay. Another ruling found the company had falsified documents and destroyed water quality records. Because the company delayed installing essential pollution control equipment and continued dumping waste into the river for five years, the EPA and the [[Department of Justice]], forced them to build a sewage treatment plant. <ref>[http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/1997/August97/331enr.htm Smithfield Foods Fined $12.6 Million in Largest Clean Water Act Fine Ever], [[U.S. Department of Justice]], News Release, August 1997</ref> Smithfield had appealed a series of lower district court rulings, arguing that the United States was barred from suing the company due to an "agreement" with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality that allowed them to "exceed permit limits". In September of 1999, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling. The panel of three judges unanimously agreed that Virginia’s agreement not to enforce the phosphorous was not part of the company's EPA approved permit. <ref>[http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/135261f4d1edd40885257359003d4807/c7a68726816ff7b3852567ef0053e790!OpenDocument Appeals Court Upholds Ruling Against Smithfield Foods for Polluting Virginia River], [[Environmental Protection Agency]], News Release, September 1999</ref> See also [[Smithfield Foods]].