An aerial view of the Valley Proteins facility in July 2021.
Nearly 80 people attended the state hearing on the renewal of Valley Proteins’ wastewater discharge permit on Tuesday, November 16, at the Linkwood Volunteer Fire Station. Just under 40 community members, including Choptank Riverkeeper Matt Pluta and ShoreRivers’ Director of Education Suzanne Sullivan, spoke out against the Maryland Department of the Environment’s (MDE) proposal to allow Valley Proteins to expand their wastewater operation to nearly four times their current discharge volume.
The agency recently issued a tentative determination for renewal of Valley Proteins’ discharge permit that expired in 2006, which ShoreRivers believes is overdue for an upgrade. After reviewing MDE’s draft permit, ShoreRivers has identified opportunities for improvement. First, the permit should require independent, third-party monitoring of all discharge limits to ensure credible reporting. Second, Valley Proteins must come into compliance with their current discharge limits before they are allowed to expand their discharge volume. And finally, when the plant violates their permit in the future, MDE must issue fines and enforce water pollution control laws—actions the agency has not taken against previous violations.
“Valley Proteins has been operating on a permit with outdated pollution limits while also using outdated and failing wastewater treatment technology,” said Pluta. “Worse yet, Valley Proteins has been in significant violation of those outdated permit limits, even after having ample time to upgrade and comply to the law. These egregious actions by a private, for-profit entity are polluting our river—a public resource. The company has been getting away with this for years; it’s time to put a stop to it.”
Valley Proteins applied in 2014 to MDE to increase their daily wastewater discharge limit nearly fourfold, from an average of from 150,000 gallons per day to 575,000 gallons per day. That request was drafted three times between 2014 and 2020, but repeatedly withdrawn up until this point. “Valley Proteins isn’t able to comply with the 15-year old permit limits for 150,000 gallons per day, which does not provide any confidence that they will meet their limits at treating an even greater volume of wastewater,” said Pluta. The Environmental Protection Agency’s Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) database indicates the facility has had 43 exceedances of their effluent limits since January 2018.
At MDE’s hearing for the discharge permit on November 16, dozens of community members spoke about the foul odors emanating from Valley Proteins, which are so strong they affect residents’ daily lives. “The smell in East New Market from the Valley Proteins plant is so bad that I can’t go outside fishing or canoeing on my property on certain days,” said Suzanne Sullivan, a resident of Dorchester County and ShoreRivers’ Director of Education. Another resident said there are several days in the summer months when he can’t sleep with the windows open because the smell is so bad. Others spoke of their pets and family members not going outside because of the odors. “I’ve been complaining to MDE for three years about the odor from Valley Proteins, and now sometimes they hang up on me when I call or they don’t answer,” said Franco Primavesi, a resident within two and half miles of Valley Proteins’ facility.
Community members have until December 15 to submit comments to MDE on the tentative determination for this wastewater discharge permit. If you are impacted by Valley Proteins’ air emissions or water pollution, concerned about expanding their production capacity, or troubled by MDE’s lack of enforcement and accountability on this matter, please contact MDE with your concerns by email at Michael.richardson@maryland.gov.