Coastkeeper, Waterkeeper Alliance file suit against farm, Perdue

(March 5, 2010) Two environmental activist groups filed a lawsuit in the federal District Court of Maryland on Tuesday against a Berlin farm and Perdue Farms Inc. for allegedly discharging pollutants into the Franklin Branch of the Pocomoke River.

Assateague Coastkeeper Kathy Phillips and the Waterkeeper Alliance filed the lawsuit because Hudson Farm and Perdue did not correct violations, according to a press release.

“Hudson Farm and Perdue had the opportunity to stop the pollution that puts state residents and the waterways of Maryland at great risk,” Phillips said in the release. “Unfortunately, they chose to ignore this reasonable approach and instead Perdue sought to create the false impression that our concerns were unfounded.”

She added, “Illegal pollution is illegal pollution and that is what we are dealing with in this situation. Since Perdue has not seen fit to respond to our notice, we had no choice but to respond to their recalcitrance with this next step in the legal process.”

In December, Phillips said nutrients from a pile of chicken manure on the farm were running into a ditch and polluting the water and that a lawsuit could be filed against Perdue and the farm.

Following those assertions that Perdue was responsible for polluting waters near the Berlin farm, Luis Luna, Perdue’s spokesman, said the company was considering all legal options against the Waterkeepers and their allies “for their reckless and irresponsible charges” against the company.

Luna said the farm was a contract farm, the farmer raised chickens for Perdue and the pile was not chicken manure but Class A biosolids from the Ocean City wastewater treatment plant. Farmers use biosolids from wastewater treatment plants because the lime in it is good for their soil. The Hudson Farm has used the biosolids for about three years.

Phillips, who is also executive director of the Assateague Coastal Trust, then said in a statement issued by a public relations firm that she was appalled to learn that Perdue admitted it was importing human sewage to the farm.

Luis again responded and said, “Waterkeepers first said they had found piles of poultry litter on a private farm and blamed Perdue for putting it there. The Maryland Department of the Environment proved them wrong. Now they say Perdue has put ‘human sewage’ onto that same farm. Their statements are ludicrous. Having been discredited, they seem to believe their best defense is a good offense and have made even more outrageous charges.”

Phillips then countered that it was immaterial whether it was chicken manure or biosolids. The matter was discharging pollutants.

Water samples had shown that high levels of many harmful bacteria, including fecal coliform and E. coli, were flowing from the facility, Phillips and the Waterkeeper Alliance said. Pollutants phosphorus and nitrogen were also found in the discharges. Sampling by the Maryland Department of the Environment five weeks after the Dec. 17 notice of the intent to file a lawsuit confirmed continuing high levels of fecal coliform and E. coli in the ditches flowing from the production area of the facility, Phillips said.

“The Eastern Shore is one of the most abundant and productive coastal waterways in the United States, and we can no longer afford to ignore the pollution and contamination of these waters,” Scott Edwards, director of Advocacy for Waterkeeper Alliance, said in the press release. “We need to take action against persistent violators like Hudson Farm and Perdue to protect the future of the Chesapeake and all who depend on it.”

On Tuesday, the day the lawsuit was filed, Luna had no more to say about the controversy.

“Once there is a lawsuit, we can’t discuss ongoing litigation,” Luna said.