MDEQ says material is ‘non- hazardous’ and of ‘beneficial use’
Large tanker trucks have been transporting loads of rendering plant water from the River Valley Animal Foods plant west of Forest and offloading the material at multiple sites in Scott County and some residents are concerned.
Numerous citizens told The Scott County Times that they have voiced concerns about the affects the plant material could have on the local environment and have been given few answers from either River Valley Animal Foods or the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ).
Residents in the Ringgold Community northeast of Forest were the first to notice the influx of large tanker trucks running day-and-night. After investigation the citizens learned the tankers started dumping the “sludge material” at a site off Langs Mill Road approximately two weeks ago.
Sybil Gordy who lives in the Ringgold Community said the water dumps started all of a sudden. “About two weeks ago we started noticing these big tanker trucks running non-stop on Ringgold Road,” she said. “Then it went from two trucks to more trucks running day-and-night. I found out that these trucks were carrying water from the rendered plant and dumping the water at a site on Langs Mill and that’s when many of us grew very concerned.”
Gordy contacted the Environmental Protection Agency about the water being dumped in their community. A representative from MDEQ was dispatched to test the levels of the thousands of gallons of water being offloaded from every tanker load. “The EPA said the water tested out as clean and had no odor,” Gordy said. “But I have seen where some of the water spilled out on the road and it looked like a slick nasty mess.”
In a prepared statement Robbie Wilbur with MDEQ said “MDEQ staff investigated a complaint that the agency received regarding the land application of a sludge material on agricultural fields in Scott County. The material is a non-hazardous digested lagoon residual from the Tyson Foods, Forest, Mississippi, plant. The material is being land applied as a soil amendment under a Beneficial Use Determination from MDEQ. MDEQ’s investigation indicated that the material was being applied within the parameters of the beneficial use determination and did not reveal any off-site issues or impacts from the application of the material.
“These residuals are generated by many poultry processing plants in the state and the land application of the residuals is a common practice in the poultry industry. Prior to issuing a beneficial use determination to any of the poultry processing companies in the state, the use of the digested lagoon residuals as an agricultural soil amendment was evaluated by the agency through various demonstration projects conducted over a three-year period to determine if the material could be suitably land applied as an agricultural soil amendment. In addition to the approval from MDEQ, the beneficial use of this material also requires approval from the Mississippi Department of Agriculture for soil amendment use.”
After Gordy’s call to the EPA the truckloads being shipped to Langs Mill road haulted just as suddenly as they started. It appears a secondary site was found to disperse the sludge material. The transport tankers began offloading the water at a privately-owned pasture on Highway 21 just north of Forest. The information from the MDEQ does not indicate that the material offloaded at this location has been tested.
On July 11, tanker trucks and multiple large tractors with industrial sprayers attached were working to get the thousands of gallons of sludge water that came with each tanker transferred to the sprayers. Six tanker trucks entered the property during a twenty-minute time span.
After observing the process, The Scott County Times contacted MDEQ and Clear Valley Animal Foods to request information and the parameters of the current operation. Worth Sparkman, Senior Manager Public Relations at Tyson Foods acknowledged the tranport of material from the Clear Valley plant and said that he would provide a prepared statement on the issue. As of press time Tuesday that statement had not been issued and multiple follow-up calls to Clear Valley were not returned.
The following day the tankers were still constantly traveling Highway 80, Highway 35 and Highway 21, but were no longer offloading at the pasture on Highway 21 where they had been observed the day before.
Calls to Scott County Ward 1 Supervisor Jackie Bradford and the private land owner on Highway 21 went unanswered and the calls were not returned as of press time.
Wilbur said, “While MDEQ did not observe any problems with the use of the material at this particular location, we do invite any residents that have concerns about the use of the material in their area to contact the Waste Division at MDEQ at 601-961-5171, and we will gladly discuss these issues with them further.”
