State environmental officials are fining Perdue Foods for discharging high amounts of pollutants from a Sussex processing plant into state waterways.
Delaware's Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary Shawn Garvin issued an order on Friday, March 2, saying Perdue Foods discharged high amounts of nitrogen, ammonia and a type of bacteria from its Georgetown Facility into Savannah Ditch between May and July 2015. Savannah Ditch flows into the Broadkill River.
The discharge played a role in harming state waterways, DNREC said.
Perdue will pay a penalty of about $77,000 dollars for violating its discharge permit and an additional $7,600 for expenses regarding DNREC’s investigation.
DNREC says Perdue has not violated its permit since July 2015.
Perdue's Vice President of Sustainability Steve Levitsky issued a statement regarding the 2015 violations and corrective actions.
“While we strive for perfection in our wastewater operations, we experienced an upset in the biological systems of the treatment plant, resulting in periods of elevated nutrient discharges,” Levitsky said. “We immediately reported those incidents to DNREC and proactively took action that prevented a recurrence of those issues.”
Perdue is working on an environmental improvement project with the Nature Conservancy to convert about 40 acres of farmland into forest to help reduce pollutants and offset a part of its penalty.
