Mountaire Farms reported to the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) that the company’s cleanup of an accidental release of partially treated wastewater has been completed.
The spill occurred on February 13 at Mountaire’s poultry plant in Millsboro. According to a statement from DNREC, the accidental discharge was discovered around 5 a.m. that day, and appeared to have been caused by a mechanical failure with its wastewater component. Mountaire at the time told DNREC that the spill was contained onsite and there was no discharge into the nearby creek.
DNREC has since reported that staff members from its Groundwater Discharges Section were onsite to verify the status of the cleanup efforts. The agency stated that Mountaire’s response actions to the accidental discharge have included continuous 24-hour pumping of the discharged water back into the wastewater treatment system for retreatment; scraping of soils in the area where the discharge occurred to remove any potential solids; liming of the ground surface once solids are removed; repair of the mechanical component that apparently led to the accidental discharge, and a complete inspection of the system.
DNREC also is requiring enhanced groundwater monitoring by Mountaire Farms in the area of the wastewater discharge to determine if any potential impacts to groundwater have occurred since the time the discharge was reported.
This is the second time in recent history that an equipment failure has caused an accidental discharge at Mountaire’s Millsboro facility.
On October 12, 2018, an accidental discharge apparently occurred after heavy rainfall caused an electrical malfunction at the facility, which resulted in the release of the wastewater into Swan Lake.
The WATTAgNet Top Companies Database lists Mountaire Farms as the sixth largest broiler company in the United States, based on 2017 data. The company, in 2017, processed 48.48 million pounds of ready-to-cook chicken on a weekly basis.
