The Pomme de Terre River, where the facility proposed dumping its wastewater, is already impaired by E. coli bacteria.
BY: ALLISON KITE | The Missouri Independent | January 9, 2024
Photo via US Army Corps of Engineers
A southwest Missouri meatpacker has withdrawn its request to discharge treated wastewater into an impaired river after state regulators announced their intent to deny the company a permit.
Missouri Prime Beef Packers, which processes 3,500 cattle per week near Pleasant Hope, sought permission from the state last year to use a proprietary microbe technology to treat wastewater from its operations and discharge it into the Pomme de Terre River.
It had previously applied the wastewater to surrounding land as fertilizer.
But the company informed the Missouri Department of Natural Resources last week that it was withdrawing its application for a permit to discharge water from its operations into the Pomme de Terre River. Representatives for the company did not immediately return a request for comment.
The Pomme de Terre River winds through the Ozark region of southwest Missouri and provides clear, spring-fed water for canoeing, swimming and fishing. But it’s impaired by E. coli contamination, landing it on a federal list of impaired waterways.
In 2019, the river was found to have an average of more than 200 E. coli colonies per 100 milliliters of water, well above the limit of 126. E. coli data from 2020 are incomplete because of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on sample collection, and newer data are not yet available.
Pomme de Terre Lake, which is fed by the river, is also considered impaired because of high levels of chlorophyll-a, indicating the water is receiving too much phosphorus and nitrogen, which can lead to harmful algae blooms that reduce oxygen in the water and kill fish. Some blooms can lead to toxins and bacteria that can make people sick.
Runoff from farms is a major source of nitrogen and phosphorus, which are found in animal waste. Untreated, the water from the meatpacking facility’s processing could also contain those chemicals.
Because of the river’s existing struggle with contamination, environmental advocates feared allowing Missouri Prime Beef Packers to release wastewater into the river would make things worse. While the company would treat the water before releasing it, critics raised concerns about the effectiveness of the company’s microbe technology, called iLeaf.
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources had previously reviewed the Missouri Prime Beef Packers’ request and determined it wouldn’t harm the river. But after hearing concerns from members of the public, the agency announced a draft denial, saying the company didn’t meet all of the regulatory requirements to use an innovative technology.
John Hoke, director of the agency’s water protection programs, said at the time that the department hadn’t seen the technology used at the scale the meatpacking facility proposed to use it.
Heather Peters, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ water pollution control branch chief, said in an emailed statement that until the meatpacking facility has a permit for land application it either has to store its wastewater, haul it to a treatment facility or take it out of state.
Read Great Rivers’ Comments on behalf of the Missouri Coalition for the Environment and the Sierra Club Missouri Chapter here:
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