040909 Water Pollution Limits Set for Arkansas Plants

Washington, DC - Some Arkansas meat and poultry processors will be required to upgrade their wastewater treatments under a new federal regulation scheduled to take effect next month.

The Environmental Protection Agency has set new limits on nitrogen and ammonia in wastewater produced by slaughterhouses, processors and renderers that is discharged into rivers, lakes and streams.

The rule, which goes into effect on Oct. 8, represents the first time that poultry processors will become subject to discharge limitations on the pollutants, EPA officials said.

Eight plants operated by Springdale-based poultry and meat giant Tyson Foods, Inc., including ones in Scranton, Clarksville and Waldron, are among the Arkansas plants affected.

"Our environmental staff is evaluating the final rule to determine how it will affect our operations," Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson said in a written statement.

"The new guidelines essentially put a new layer of regulatory controls into what's already a well- established governmental permitting system for meat and poultry plants," he said.

The regulation applies to about 170 medium-sized and large facilities that discharge water after it has been used to wash carcasses, remove feathers and clean equipment.

Processors that send their wastewater to publicly owned treatment facilities are exempt, including Tyson plants in Springdale.

The EPA has identified 11 facilities in Arkansas that would be affected, according to Marvin Rubin, environmental engineering branch chief in the effluent limitations guidelines program.

Those companies will be required to upgrade their treatment systems. Probable improvements range from making minor adjustments in piping to installing additional machinery, Rubin said.

The EPA estimated it will cost industry about $58 million annually to comply with the new standards.

Mickelson said the cost to Tyson is yet unknown.

"In general, we don't expect the guidelines to have a significant impact on our poultry plants, since their treatment operations already have nitrogen-removing systems in place," he said.

Mickelson said the rules may have a greater impact on Tyson's beef and pork plants, some of which may need to invest in equipment to reduce nitrogen.

Marcus Devine, director of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, said the new rule will affect only a fraction of Arkansas processors.

"A lot of the Arkansas processors have their wastewater publicly treated," he said. "It may matter, but we can adjust to it without real issue."

Among the processors that do release their wastewater directly into Arkansas waters, "they are already under some pretty strong restrictions from us on nutrients, ammonia and nitrogen," Devine said.

The new federal rule is expected to reduce discharges of nitrogen by up to 27 million pounds per year, ammonia by 3 million pounds per year and conventional pollutants by 4 million pounds per year.

Ammonia is toxic to aquatic life and lowers the oxygen level in water. Nitrogen is a nutrient which in excessive amounts can cause the depletion of oxygen in the water.

Meat and poultry processors will comply with the law under an honor system that will involve self-monitoring and reporting, EPA's Rubin said.

"Folks report what their concentration levels are," Rubin said. "If they exceed the concentration levels, there is a follow up by the state in most cases."

Still, some processors may take up to five years to comply with the rule, he added. The rule goes into effect for each processor when its wastewater discharge permit comes up for renewal every five years.

Processors that do not comply will be subject to fines under the Clean Water Act.

First proposed in 2002, the rule faced some resistance from industry officials, who were concerned about the costs involved and questioned whether existing technology could accommodate the lower concentration levels.

In response, the EPA adjusted the limits based on industry comments along with cost and affordability factors, Rubin said.

Richard Lobb, spokesman for the National Chicken Council, said the EPA is adding a lot of new regulations to existing regulations.

"You always wonder whether the improvements to the water are going to be worth the cost," he said.

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