The groups filed the lawsuit earlier this year to stop
Pilgrim’s Pride from discharging illegal levels of pollutants, three times the
allowable limits, into the Suwannee River, an “Outstanding Florida Water” that
is home to 62 freshwater springs and several state parks.
The settlement, if approved by U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan, would require Pilgrim’s Pride to make equipment upgrades, investigate the possibility of eliminating or significantly reducing all discharges to the Suwannee River, put $1.3 million into a Sustainable Farming Fund, and pay $130,000 to the US Treasury, what is believed to be the largest Clean Water Act penalty in a citizen enforcement suit in Florida history.
Pilgrim's Pride butchering plant discharges effluent into the Suwannee River, Live Oak, FL. photo by John Moran
The settlement, if approved by U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan, would require Pilgrim’s Pride to make equipment upgrades, investigate the possibility of eliminating or significantly reducing all discharges to the Suwannee River, put $1.3 million into a Sustainable Farming Fund, and pay $130,000 to the US Treasury, what is believed to be the largest Clean Water Act penalty in a citizen enforcement suit in Florida history.
The complaint alleges that the company violated standards
for:
• nitrogen,
which can cause excessive algae growth;
• “specific
conductance,” which can indicate high levels of chloride, nitrate or sulfate;
• “biological
oxygen demand,” which can suck up the oxygen needed by aquatic organisms; and
• “whole
effluent chronic toxicity,” which is an indication that wastewater is toxic and can harm aquatic life.
Filed in the consent decree settlement terms would require
Pilgrim’s Pride to:
• conduct
a comprehensive study on eliminating the plant’s wastewater discharge to the
Suwannee River;
• conduct
a toxicity identification evaluation to address the cause of the plant’s
toxicity violations;
• conduct
a water use and reuse study, an analysis of the plant’s water supply system,
and various upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant; and
• pay
$1.43 million, of which $1.3 million would be used to create a Sustainable
Farming Fund designed to improve soil, groundwater, and surface water quality
in the Suwannee Basin, and $130,000 that would be paid to the U.S. Treasury as a
civil penalty.
The Stetson Water Institute will be managing the Sustainable Farming Fund for farmers in the Suwannee River basin that intend to use sustainable farming practices.
press:
http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/Chicken-processor-settles-water-pollution-suit-in-12360058.php
https://www.lakecityreporter.com/news/chicken-plant-clean-its-acthttps://secure.stetson.edu/today/2017/11/stetson-water-institute-set-to-receive-1-3m-in-water-pollution-lawsuit/
-- Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, Sierra Club Organizing Representative
