Water Pollution Lawsuit Settled in Florida
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A major chicken processing plant that has been cited for polluting the Suwannee River settled a lawsuit on Wednesday that was brought by environmental groups in Florida.
Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. settled the suit with Environment Florida and the Sierra Club, agreeing to pay $1.4 million and to upgrade equipment to help reduce the plant’s waste.
The settlement still requires approval from a federal judge.
The plant, which cuts up and packages chickens for retail sale, is in the north Florida town of Live Oak.
Pilgrim’s Pride is the second largest chicken producer in the world, and supplies chicken to fast-food restaurants and supermarkets.
The company was cited multiple times by Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection for violating limits on the amount of wastewater it was legally permitted to discharge into the river. The most recent violation was in June of this year, for failing to meet deadline required by a 2015 violations.
It was a pollution pattern that the environmental groups claimed was not being stopped by Florida’s enforcement.
So the groups filed suit in federal court last year, claiming the plant was still illegally polluting the Suwannee.
“Pilgrim’s Pride wasn’t complying with their permits, and the (state) wasn’t holding the company accountable, so Environment Florida and citizen members stepped in to get them to clean up their act” said Jennifer Rubiello, state director of the group.
Under the settlement agreement, Pilgrim’s Pride will make equipment upgrades, including to its wastewater treatment plant, study how to eliminate wastewater discharges into the river and create a sustainable farming fund.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Related News
From Archive
- DeLa Express seeks FERC approval for Permian-to-Louisiana gas pipeline project
- OSHA penalizes Houston contractor over safety violations resulting in worker's death
- Fiber infrastructure has no known expiration date, Fiber Broadband Association research concludes
- Nevada OSHA fines Elon Musk's Boring Company over safety violations in Vegas tunnel project
- Damage prevention and safety: Turning awareness into action
- Ditch Witch 1030
- Michigan lawmakers introduce bills to create septic codes throughout the state
- Indiana American Water to gain 8,000 water customers with Silver Creek Water acquisition
- Arkansas governor allocates $42 million for water infrastructure projects
- Federal judge finds Flint, Mich, in contempt over lead water pipe crisis
Comments