Valley Proteins Inc., a poultry rendering facility in Dorchester County, has reached a settlement in connection with violations of Maryland’s environmental laws and regulations.
A penalty of $540,000 and mandated upgrades to systems at the Valley Proteins facility, located in Linkwood, are among the terms of the settlement in a lawsuit filed in February by the Maryland Department of the Environment.
The lawsuit filed by the Office of Attorney General on behalf of the state’s environmental department in the Circuit Court for Dorchester County alleged that Valley Proteins had repeatedly discharged ammonia, phosphorus and other pollutants into the Transquaking River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, for “well over a year.”
The suit further contended the company’s illegal discharge of pollutants was in violation of its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit and state water pollution laws, and included failure to implement stormwater pollution plan best management practices, numerous unauthorized discharges of wastewater, sludge and solids, and violations of its air emissions permit.
“Valley Proteins repeatedly discharged harmful pollutants — including nitrogen, phosphorus and fecal coliform — into a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay,” said Attorney General Brian Frosh. “These violations of our environmental laws threatened fragile ecosystems and our treasured Chesapeake Bay.
“This settlement and hefty penalty sends a strong message to Valley Proteins and others that they are not free to pollute Maryland’s waters and air,” he said.
The consent decree reached Monday requires Valley Proteins to:
- Correct stormwater violations.
- Conduct a groundwater investigation to determine if the wastewater lagoons are leaking pollutants and, if leaking, to stop the leak and remediate any contamination.
- Upgrade its existing wastewater treatment system in order to address effluent violations.
- Conduct stormwater sampling.
- Investigate and implement improvements to address odor pollution beyond the facility’s property line.
“The safety of our employees, contractors, the community and environment where we operate is our top priority. Darling Ingredients acquired Valley Proteins in May 2022,” Valley Proteins told Delmarva Now in a statement. “We have a comprehensive process, protocols and environmental expectations that are part of our day-to-day operations. These standards apply to all of our acquired assets.”
The company also added it is committed “to continuing to work closely with the Maryland Department of Environment” to ensure the Linkwood facility, which uses poultry industry refuse to make food for other animals, is in full compliance with all relevant rules and regulations.
Valley Proteins is also required to pay the citizen’s groups their attorneys’ fees, reimburse past and future costs, and pay into the Transquaking River Watershed Fund, in furtherance of water quality improvements. That is due to Chesapeake Legal Alliance, on behalf of ShoreRivers and Dorchester Citizens for Planned Growth, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, which intervened in the state’s lawsuit Feb. 11, 2022.
The company is also required to pay additional penalties if it fails to meet any deadline or schedule required by the consent decree, and pay past and future costs to the state for response costs.
“When the Valley Proteins facility’s operations threatened the quality of our water and our air the Maryland Department of the Environment took an enforcement action to assign accountability and to deter future violations. We are pleased to now have a strong, enforceable agreement,” said Horacio Tablada, Maryland secretary of the environment
Tablada added, with an agreement in place, the company can continue to serve the region’s agricultural community while achieving environmental compliance. The state’s environmental agency can now determine the “appropriate, complementary conditions” to be included in a final renewal discharge permit for the plant.
That permit is slated to be issued within the next 60 days.
Community groups and Valley Proteins
In spring 2021, ShoreRivers, Dorchester Citizens for Planned Growth and the Chesapeake Legal Alliance, along with co-plaintiff Chesapeake Bay Foundation, issued a notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act because for years the state had failed to address violations at Valley Proteins, failed to renew the 15-year-old discharge permit and failed to require corrective actions to modernize its wastewater treatment plant.
The enforcement action against Valley Proteins in February 2022 followed the release of drone footage by ShoreRivers documenting increased pollution violations and unauthorized discharges into the Transquaking River watershed.
“It took a team of nonprofits, including the Chesapeake Legal Alliance, to finally force MDE into taking a strong position to protect water quality from one of the state’s worst permit violators,” said Matt Pluta, director of Riverkeeper Programs at ShoreRivers. “We will remain vigilant in the coming months and years to see that the terms of the consent decree are followed and that any future discharge permit includes the necessary conditions for improving local water quality.”
The Chesapeake Legal Alliance echoed sentiments by other co-plaintiffs and added the agreement was just the beginning in a long process of clean-up efforts.
“Our clients sought to hold Valley Proteins accountable for illegal pollution discharges and violations of its permit, and we have done just that. This enforcement action initiated and led by local nonprofits is exactly the type of community involvement that is at the heart of the Clean Water Act,” said Patrick DeArmey, attorney for the Chesapeake Legal Alliance.
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According to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the consent decree also aims to address community complaints related to the Linkwood rendering plant ranging from excessive algal blooms in local waterways to foul smells emanating from the facility.
The foundation has noted such complaints by the public have come as a result of Valley Proteins primarily rendering chicken carcasses and feathers into pet food and other products at the plant.
“Valley Proteins’ previous ownership failed to operate and maintain this rendering plant to the standards expected in the state, so we took action. The consent decree imposes strict measures coupled with enhanced Maryland Department of the Environment and citizen oversight to ensure the new owners end (pollution violations),” said Alan Girard, the foundation’s Eastern Shore Director.
Girard added he hoped the decree would be a deterrent for other companies who continue to pollute Maryland waterways.
Source: Delmarvanow
