Water watchdog issues recommendations for Mountaire cleanup
The Center for the Inland Bays wants regular reporting and tighter controls on a Millsboro poultry plant to decrease pollution of local waterways.
“Clean drinking water and a healthy Indian River are extremely important to the health of our community and economy,” said Chris Bason, executive director of the Center for the Inland Bays, noting Swan Creek and Indian River should continue to be monitored.
“Existing monitoring of the river during the summers of 2017 and 2018 showed some of its worst-ever recorded water quality, with extremely dense algae blooms and dissolved oxygen levels regularly falling to near zero.”
A consent order that both DNREC and Mountaire signed in May awaits court approval before it is finalized. In it, Mountaire has agreed to pay $600,000 to the state, unless drinking water for nearby residents is improved.
Even before the consent order was signed, Bason said, a CIB Board of Directors committee developed recommendations that include pollution remediation, regulation and permitting, environmental monitoring, and public information.
He said after the the consent order was signed, the center requested information about pollution levels and proposed cleanup that DNREC still has not provided.
The latest recommendations specifically ask for a full accounting of pollution released from Mountaire in excess of its permitted limits dating back to at least 2009. In 2017, nitrate levels in drinking water spiked to 40 times more than the permit allowance of 15 mg/liter following an upset of the plant's wastewater system. The Environmental Protection Agency has set 10 mg/liter as the maximum allowed for safe drinking water.
Following the upset, bacteria was measured at more than 5,000 times the permitted level. Mountaire now faces two separate lawsuits filed by area residents demanding clean drinking water.
In support of those residents and the area's waterways, and protesting years of wastewater violations, the center asks that Mountaire double its wastewater cleanup to exceed the permit allowance. It also asks that the time frame for wastewater violations extend beyond the 2017 date set in the consent order.
In order to intercept polluted groundwater, Bason said, Mountaire's water supply wells should be relocated so the groundwater can be run through the facility's wastewater system. He said the consent order calls for moving wells, but only after a new wastewater treatment system has been built. In June, Mountaire said final plans for a $60 million state-of-the-art wastewater treatment system at the Route 24 plant should be complete by May. Once approved, company officials said, the project will go out to bid by August with construction slated to begin in October. Assuming timely receipt of necessary approvals, the new wastewater treatment facility is scheduled to be operational by 2020.
In order to protect the Inland Bays now, CIB officials say wells should be moved immediately to prevent highly contaminated groundwater from leaching into Swan Creek and Indian River.
The public has a right to know water is contaminated, Bason said, and DNREC must provide accurate and up-to-date records on its online information system.
“We recognize the ongoing legal proceedings between [the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control] and Mountaire, and we encourage important information concerning water resources to be made public,” he said.
To better serve the public, he said, homeowners selling homes that have private drinking water wells should disclose levels of water contaminants to potential buyers.
“The center intends to advocate for the implementation of these recommendations and to continue informing the public about the water quality and importance of the Inland Bays,” Bason said.
