September 12, 2022
Dorchester County, MD—ShoreRivers and Dorchester Citizens for Planned Growth (DCPG), represented by Chesapeake Legal Alliance, announce a settlement agreement with Valley Proteins, LLC, addressing ongoing pollution violations at the company’s Linkwood facility. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) are also parties to the agreement.
Valley Proteins operates an industrial plant in Linkwood that renders chicken carcass parts into protein for animal feed and other products. The facility’s Clean Water Act (CWA) permit expired in 2006, but it has been administratively extended for over 15 years.
In spring 2021, ShoreRivers, DCPG, CLA, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation issued a notice of intent to sue under the CWA after years of unaddressed violations, an outdated permit, and failure to require upgrades to the plant’s wastewater treatment system. MDE initiated its enforcement action in early 2022 after drone footage captured by ShoreRivers documented pollution and unauthorized discharges into the Transquaking River watershed.
“It took a team of nonprofits, including the Chesapeake Legal Alliance, to finally force MDE into taking a strong position to protect water quality from one of the State's worst permit violators,'' said Matt Pluta, Director of Riverkeeper Programs at ShoreRivers. “We will remain vigilant in the coming months and years to see that the terms of the consent decree are followed and that any future discharge permit includes the necessary conditions for improving local water quality.”
Acknowledging that more is still needed to fully protect the Transquaking River, DCPG President Fred Pomeroy says: “We regard this consent decree as a potential first step toward reducing the illegal discharges2from Valley Proteins that have for years degraded the Transquaking River and threatened public health in the watershed. Now, we call on Maryland’s Department of the Environment to produce a strict new operating permit for the facility which will actually contribute to restoration of the river. Markedly improved water quality downstream from the VP operation will be the ultimate test of the effectiveness of this agreement.”
The consent decree is an important victory toward bringing accountability. It is the strongest enforcement action brought to date against Valley Proteins, LLC in the decade-long period for which they have violated pollution control limits.
“Our clients sought to hold Valley Proteins accountable for illegal pollution discharges and violations of its permit, and we have done just that,” said Patrick DeArmey, Attorney for Chesapeake Legal Alliance. “This enforcement action initiated and led by local nonprofits is exactly the type of community involvement that is at the heart of the Clean Water Act.”
Under the agreement, Valley Proteins will pay $540,000 in civil penalties and $160,000 to fund water quality monitoring and restoration. The company is also required to complete on-site upgrades and studies, including: improving stormwater treatment, investigating and addressing potential groundwater pollution, resolving issues with the existing wastewater treatment system, and studying and controlling odor and air emissions.
The agreement does not require upgrades to Valley Proteins’ outdated wastewater treatment plant—a step ShoreRivers and DCPG consider critical to preventing future violations and protecting water quality. Separately, MDE is expected to issue a new Clean Water Act permit for the facility this year. A draft released earlier proposed nearly a four-fold increase in permitted discharge, a measure strongly opposed by ShoreRivers and DCPG given the facility’s poor compliance history.
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Shore Rivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education. A 501(c)(3) working to advocate for strong clean-water laws to ensure a legacy of thriving waterways and help galvanize communities to act to improve the health of our rivers, its core focus is on the Chester, Choptank, Sassafras, Miles, and Wye rivers, Eastern Bay, and the Bayside Creeks.
Dorchester Citizens for Planned Growth a 501(c)3 nonprofit is organized to guarantee a public voice in issues of land and water use. The group pledges to advocate for the promotion, maintenance, and conservation of the natural resources, farmland, waterways and open spaces of Dorchester County.
Chesapeake Legal Alliance is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing free legal services, with a mission to apply the power of the law to protect and restore clean water and promote healthy, resilient ecosystems for communities across the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Matt Pluta, ShoreRivers, mpluta@shorerivers.org, (443) 385-0511 ext. 203
Fred Pomeroy, Dorchester Citizens for Planned Growth, (443) 205-9710
Patrick DeArmey, Chesapeake Legal Alliance, patrick@chesapeakelegal.org, (410) 216-9441 ext. 205
