Allen Harim sues wastewater management company

Allen Harim Foods filed a lawsuit against Artesian Wastewater Management Inc., claiming Artesian has threatened to stop providing services.

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(perhapzz | Bigstock)
(perhapzz | Bigstock)

Allen Harim Foods filed a lawsuit against Artesian Wastewater Management Inc., claiming Artesian has threatened to stop providing services.

The lawsuit, according to a report from Delaware Public Radio, claims that Artesian wants $1.42 million plus interest from the poultry company. If Allen Harim doesn’t pay that amount by June 26, it must either shut down operations in Harbeson and Millsboro, both in Delaware, or dispose of its wastewater in Beaverdam Creek.

Allen Harim claims in the lawsuit that it does not owe the money to Artesian

Allen Harim has an agreement with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) which restricts Allen Harim from discharging water into the creek. If the poultry processor violates that agreement, it would be subject to fines of up to $10,000 per day.  

A contract was signed between Allen Harim and Artesian in 2017, after Allen Harim received multiple fines from the state for discharging wastewater into streams.

When that agreement was announced, it was stated that Artesian would construct a pipeline to route the treated wastewater from the Harbeson plant to Artesian’s Northern Sussex Water Recycling facility north of Milton, Delaware. From there, Artesian was to use it for spray irrigation on agricultural land.

 “Artesian is very pleased to provide a solution for Allen Harim that will allow its treated wastewater to be reclaimed for irrigation, thus reducing nutrients in our rivers, streams and bays while also making farming more financially viable,” Dian C. Taylor, president and CEO of Artesian, said at the time.  “Use of reclaimed wastewater for irrigation of agricultural land preserves groundwater supplies and maintains the local natural water cycle,” she noted.

Then-Allen Harim CEO Joe Moran called the contract with Artesian a “game changer” for the Harbeson facility. “We’ve been discussing this idea with Artesian for nearly nine months and we are pleased to be able to move forward with this plan. Our goal all along has been to reduce our impact to Beaverdam Creek, and this solution eliminates it altogether.”  

Moran has since left the company, while Mickey Baugher, former president of Plainville Farms, was named Allen Harim CEO in November 2020.

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