The US Poultry & Egg Association recently named its 2008 Clean Water Award winners and gave honourable mentions to a total of four plants in two categories. In the pre-treatment category, USPOULTRY honoured Simmons Foods’ facility in Jay, Oklahoma, for its innovative use of a Dorr Oliver Vacuator, the predecessor of the modern-day dissolved air flotation (DAF) system, which was originally installed in 1953. According to USPOULTRY, Simmons’ system continually achieves a 95% BOD removal rate. In addition, Simmons’ water reuse measures have helped reduce the plant’s water usage by 200,000 gallons per day.

 The honourable mention in the pre-treatment category was awarded to Tyson Foods’ Dawson, Georgia plant. The Tyson plant uses concrete berms to act as emergency catch basins if there is a wastewater or chemical spill, providing more than 20,000 gallons of emergency containment. Additionally, the facility recently established a water conservation team.

 

In the full treatment category, USPOULTRY awarded the Clean Water Award to Tyson Foods’ Cumming, Georgia, facility for its water conservation strategies. First off, the facility utilises an environmental management system to log and manage water use. It then reclaims rinse waters from bird washers, which is treated and then returned to scalders, pickers, and other primary processing equipment for reuse. Last but not least, almost 300,000 gallons of effluent are recaptured each month at the wastewater facility to fill polymer tanks, belt press wash water, non-potable rinses for floors and more.

 

 

Honourable mention in the full treatment category also went to another Georgia plant, Sanderson Farms’ Moultrie facility where the land-application system provides irrigation for 400 acres of Alicia Bermuda grass for hay production.

 

In the meantime, problems with other companies’ wastewater practices were recently highlighted in various legal actions. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice are investigating a wastewater system incident at Smithfield Foods’ Souderton, Pennsylvania, facility. According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Justice has issued grand jury subpoenas for documents and a testimony.

 

On 5 December, 2007, the Souderton facility, which discharges to a nearby creek, experienced what the company called “an operational upset” in a part of the chlorination system of its wastewater treatment plant. Smithfield said it provided notice of the upset on the same day, and then filed a written report with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. The report stated Smithfield had already reconfigured the chlorination system to prevent a recurrence and that the facility intended to replace the existing chlorination system, pending approval of plans submitted to the state prior to the upset.

The same facility also experienced a wastewater release incident in August 2007. In addition, there were two wastewater incidents in 2006. These incidents were resolved by a consent order and agreement with the state of Pennsylvania providing civil penalties and damages totalling US$77,888 and establishing an enforceable schedule to complete a planned US$5 million upgrade to the facility’s existing wastewater treatment system.