Texas Egg Producer to Pay $1.9 Million Penalty to Resolve Clean Water Act Violations (HQ, OK, TX)
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
and the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) today announced that Mahard
Egg Farm, Inc., a Texas corporation, will pay a $1.9 million
penalty to resolve claims that the company violated the Clean Water
Act (CWA) at its egg production facilities in Texas and Oklahoma.
The civil penalty is the largest amount to be paid in a federal
enforcement action involving a concentrated animal feeding
operation (CAFO). The company will also spend approximately $3.5
million on remedial measures to ensure compliance with the law and
protect the environment and people’s health.
“By working with DOJ and our state partners in Texas and
Oklahoma, we have reached a significant settlement that reflects
the seriousness of Mahard’s violations,” said Cynthia
Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of
Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Large animal feeding
operations that fail to comply with our nation’s
environmental laws threaten public health and the environment and
put smaller farming operations at a
disadvantage.”
“This agreement is the result of extensive
cooperation between the states of Texas and Oklahoma and the
federal government to address multiple violations of the Clean
Water Act at Mahard facilities,” said Ignacia S. Moreno,
assistant attorney general for the Environment and Natural
Resources Division at the Department of Justice. “Ensuring
the lawful handling of CAFO wastes will mean cleaner steams and
waterways in Texas and Oklahoma, which is important for aquatic
habitats, safe drinking water, and public
recreation.”
The CWA complaint, filed jointly with the
settlement by the United States and the states of Texas and
Oklahoma, alleges that Mahard operated a facility without a permit
and discharged pollutants into area waterways. Mahard also
allegedly discharged pollutants or otherwise failed to comply with
the terms of its permits at six other facilities, including its
newest facility near Vernon, Texas, where it also failed to comply
with the Texas Construction Storm Water Permit and to ensure safe
drinking water for its employees. The states of Texas and Oklahoma
also alleged violations of state laws.
Most egg production facilities generate various
wastes, including wet or dry manure from chicken houses, wastewater
from the egg-washing process, and compost from chicken carcasses.
If done properly, these wastes may be sold or contained on-site in
manure storage lagoons, prior to being applied to nearby fields.
However, the joint complaint alleges that, as a result of
Mahard’s historic practice of over-applying waste to its
fields, the soils at its facilities are saturated with nutrients
(nitrogen and phosphorus) and, during and after rainfall, these
nutrients are discharged into area streams and waterways. In
addition, at several facilities, Mahard abandoned inactive and
improperly designed manure lagoons rather than closing them as
required by law.
As part of this settlement, Mahard has committed
to comprehensive, system-wide changes in order to bring each of its
seven CAFO facilities into compliance with applicable state and
federal laws, permits, and regulations and to restore the lands to
prevent future discharges to area waterways. The settlement
mandates the performance of specific requirements, such as lagoon
closures, groundwater monitoring, and the construction and
maintenance of buffer strips along area waterways within the
facility boundaries. It also requires on-going land restoration and
management measures, such as restrictions on land-application of
manure and livestock grazing.
Preventing animal waste from contaminating
surface and ground waters of the United States is one of
EPA’s National Enforcement Initiatives for 2011-2013. The
initiative continues EPA’s focus on large and medium sized
CAFOs that are discharging pollution without or in violation of a
permit.
The settlement, lodged in the U.S. District
Court for the Northern District of Texas, is subject to a 30-day
public comment period and approval by the federal court.
More information on the settlement:
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/cases/civil/cwa/mahardegg.html
More information on EPA’s National
Enforcement Initiatives:
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/data/planning/initiatives/initiatives.html