LINKWOOD — The Maryland Department of the Environment fined Darling Ingredients $15,000 for repeated pollution violations at its Linkwood facility.
According to a news release from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, MDE inspections revealed 51 violations made between August 2023 and March 2024 by the owner of Valley Proteins, an animal waste rendering facility in Dorchester County that processes poultry byproducts.
The company violated a requirement that it must leave at least two feet of empty capacity, or freeboard, in wastewater lagoons, the news release said. The freeboard is required in order to prevent overflows or spills into waterways during events like heavy rains.
In a statement, Chesapeake Bay Foundation Eastern Shore Director Alan Girard said Darling Ingredients has committed violations “time and again” that could harm the waterways of the Eastern Shore.
“We’re grateful that the Maryland Department of the Environment is stepping up to levy fines and enforce the terms of the consent decree,” he said. “The Bay’s health depends on consistent and timely enforcement of laws and regulations designed to protect our environment.”
In response to a request for comment, Darling Ingredients’ Director of Global Communications Jillian Fleming said to the Star Democrat in an email, “We are working with the regulator and will respond through the appropriate process.”
Matt Pluta, Choptank riverkeeper with ShoreRivers, called the imposed fines a win for enforcement. But he said it’s always unfortunate when pollution concerns are discovered.
“I think there was a lot of hope that with the new ownership of this facility that we would see a change in the operations,” he said. “But this fine tells us that nothing’s really changed there, unfortunately.”
In December 2021, it was announced that Texas-based company Darling Ingredients would be acquiring Valley Proteins, according to previous Star Democrat reporting.
Pluta said its important the fines imposed are high enough to deter bad behavior.
“I hope the company moves beyond this in a better way where they’re complying with their permits and being a good steward of the communities that they live in,” he said.
In 2022, the facility was put under a consent decree with MDE, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, ShoreRivers and Dorchester Citizens for Planned Growth. The consent degree ordered the facility’s owners to pay $540,000 in civil penalties to the state for its more than 40 violations of a discharge permit issued by the state, according to the news release.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation said the consent decree authorizes MDE to order financial penalties against Darling Ingredients when it fails to comply with the terms of the agreement.
In February 2023, local environment groups, including the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and ShoreRivers, challenged MDE’s wastewater discharge permit for Valley Proteins in court. According to previous Star Democrat reporting, the petition for judicial review stemmed from concerns about the potential for the plant’s pollution discharges under the new permit to contribute to unhealthy water quality in the Transquaking River, Higgins Millpond and Chesapeake Bay.
In a May 24 letter from MDE Compliance Program Manager Andrew Gosden, which details the violations made between August 2023 and March 2024, Gosden writes that Darling Ingredients has 14 days to respond.
The letter states that if the company would like to contest any violations, it must provide a written explanation and any supporting documents.
In its news release, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation said MDE has found “dozens” of additional pollution violations in recent inspections.
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