Maryland’s attorney general and local environmentalists have filed separate lawsuits against Valley Proteins Inc, accusing the animal-waste recycler of polluting the Transquaking River. Wednesday’s filings come just weeks after sustainable food-processing firm Darling Ingredients announced its purchase of Valley for $1.1 billion.
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Valley Proteins, which collects and recycles waste streams from the agri-food industry, is accused of illegally discharging pollutants into the already-polluted river from 2019 to 2022 at its Linkwood plant in Maryland’s Dorchester County.
A spokesperson for Maryland’s AG said that its lawsuit could result in a maximum penalty of almost $47 million.
Darling Ingredients agreed to buy Valley in an all-cash deal after seeing the company’s steady growth in recent years, with annual sales reported in the several hundred millions. The Virginia-based company, operates more than a dozen plants, and manufactures various animal-feed ingredients with waste collected from restaurants, supermarkets and slaughterhouses.
Its Linkwood plant processes poultry waste including blood and feathers, the suits claim.
Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said in a statement that he “intends to prove that Valley Proteins has violated the law and put at risk fragile ecosystems and the waters of the state.” Frosh’s office stated the Linkwood plant cannot discharge wastewater following a December consent order.
Frosh’s complaint says that Valley’s own reports from 2019 to 2021 show that, on over 40 occasions, their discharged wastewater contained illegal levels of ammonia, phosphorous and other pollutants – in one particular case about 725 times the limit.
According to Maryland’s Department of the Environment (MDOE), an excess discharge of chemicals such as phosphorous can dramatically harm marine plant and animal life. The department claims the 23-mile-long Transquaking is impaired with suspended solids, chemicals and nutrients, spurring the growth of harmful algal blooms.
Inspections by MDOE dating back to 2019 revealed additional violations of environmental laws, the Dorchester County-filed complaint said.
A suit was filed the same day in Baltimore federal court making similar allegations. Groups including the Chesapeake Bay Foundation say Valley’s actions also violated the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
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