Post by Undaunted on Oct 17, 2005 10:18:24 GMT -5
Tallow firm sued as promised
Plant accused of operating with odor reducer shut off
By TODD MILBOURN
BEE STAFF WRITER
Last Updated: October 16, 2005, 04:36:22 AM PDT
During the past three years, Modesto Tallow Co. routinely processed animal carcasses without turning on odor reducing equipment, according to a lawsuit filed this week by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.
The lawsuit, filed in Stanislaus County Superior Court, accuses the 88-year-old rendering plant of creating a public nuisance, failing to maintain and monitor equipment, letting carcasses sit longer than 24 hours and processing foam meat-packing trays and plastic wrap along with the plant's regular intake.
"This is serious business," said Phil Jay, an air district attorney in Fresno. "You've got major pieces of equipment they just aren't operating, and, on top of that, all the anguish they're creating for the community."
An attorney for Modesto Tallow, Karna Harrigfeld of Stockton, said the company would have no comment on the lawsuit but said in an e-mail message that Modesto Tallow was "working diligently on making improvements to the plant and will continue to do so during the ongoing weeks."
The company has 30 days to formally respond to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit asks a judge to force the plant to clean up its act or face possible closure. The action seeks civil penalties of up to $10,000, $25,000, $40,000 and $75,000 per day, depending on the violation — which could add up to millions.
The legal action comes as complaints about Modesto Tallow's odors reach record levels this summer. Smells from rendering — a process that turns dead animals and restaurant grease into products such as pet food and livestock feed — often hang over parts of south Modesto and west Ceres.
Air district officials and residents say they are fed up with Modesto Tallow's chronic failures to improve the odors coming from the plant.
The lawsuit alleges that Modesto Tallow routinely operated the plant even when its thermal oxidizer was not working. The company installed the oxidizer — an odor incinerator that is costly to run — in 2002, telling the community that the equipment would greatly reduce odors.
But, according to the lawsuit, the plant is operated in such a way that the oxidizer frequently shuts down. And when it does, Modesto Tallow does not stop processing, in violation of its permit, the lawsuit says.
Instead, the company keeps the line going, resulting in "uncontrolled odors" that engulf surrounding neighborhoods.
Built in 1917, Modesto Tallow long has been the source of public outcry. The plant on Crows Landing Road looms over a low-income area in Modesto, less than 1,000 feet from Shackelford Elementary School.
Named with Modesto Tallow in the lawsuit is Pascal Enterprises of Dallas. Harrigfeld said in an e-mail that Pascal Enterprises is not the parent company of Modesto Tallow. Rather, she said, Modesto Tallow is a subsidiary of Modesto Holding Co.
Pascal and Modesto Holding Co. are led by Bill Shirley Jr., a longtime Texas rendering executive. Shirley did not return calls seeking comment over the past two weeks.
Bee staff writer Todd Milbourn can be reached at 578-2339 or tmilbourn@modbee.com.
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TALLOW TROUBLE
Here are some other legal problems that Modesto Tallow Co. has faced over the years:
JUNE 1999: Modesto Tallow officials plead guilty to violating the federal Clean Water Act by discharging dead animal parts into a lagoon that is part of the Tuolumne River. Plant manager Larry Bietz later is sentenced to a year in prison for forging water samples. The company pays a $600,000 fine.
JULY 2003: Modesto Tallow pays $114,508 to settle a case brought by the Solano County district attorney, alleging that company trucks spilled blood and dead animal parts on roads.
JUNE 2004: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agents obtain a search warrant to investigate Modesto Tallow's dealings in Oregon. A special agent alleges that Modesto Tallow rendered chicken carcasses and discharged waste into the Columbia River without a permit, in violation of the Clean Water Act. Three months later, Modesto Tallow pays $100,000 to a Portland-based environmental group, which had threatened to sue the company.
Plant accused of operating with odor reducer shut off
By TODD MILBOURN
BEE STAFF WRITER
Last Updated: October 16, 2005, 04:36:22 AM PDT
During the past three years, Modesto Tallow Co. routinely processed animal carcasses without turning on odor reducing equipment, according to a lawsuit filed this week by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.
The lawsuit, filed in Stanislaus County Superior Court, accuses the 88-year-old rendering plant of creating a public nuisance, failing to maintain and monitor equipment, letting carcasses sit longer than 24 hours and processing foam meat-packing trays and plastic wrap along with the plant's regular intake.
"This is serious business," said Phil Jay, an air district attorney in Fresno. "You've got major pieces of equipment they just aren't operating, and, on top of that, all the anguish they're creating for the community."
An attorney for Modesto Tallow, Karna Harrigfeld of Stockton, said the company would have no comment on the lawsuit but said in an e-mail message that Modesto Tallow was "working diligently on making improvements to the plant and will continue to do so during the ongoing weeks."
The company has 30 days to formally respond to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit asks a judge to force the plant to clean up its act or face possible closure. The action seeks civil penalties of up to $10,000, $25,000, $40,000 and $75,000 per day, depending on the violation — which could add up to millions.
The legal action comes as complaints about Modesto Tallow's odors reach record levels this summer. Smells from rendering — a process that turns dead animals and restaurant grease into products such as pet food and livestock feed — often hang over parts of south Modesto and west Ceres.
Air district officials and residents say they are fed up with Modesto Tallow's chronic failures to improve the odors coming from the plant.
The lawsuit alleges that Modesto Tallow routinely operated the plant even when its thermal oxidizer was not working. The company installed the oxidizer — an odor incinerator that is costly to run — in 2002, telling the community that the equipment would greatly reduce odors.
But, according to the lawsuit, the plant is operated in such a way that the oxidizer frequently shuts down. And when it does, Modesto Tallow does not stop processing, in violation of its permit, the lawsuit says.
Instead, the company keeps the line going, resulting in "uncontrolled odors" that engulf surrounding neighborhoods.
Built in 1917, Modesto Tallow long has been the source of public outcry. The plant on Crows Landing Road looms over a low-income area in Modesto, less than 1,000 feet from Shackelford Elementary School.
Named with Modesto Tallow in the lawsuit is Pascal Enterprises of Dallas. Harrigfeld said in an e-mail that Pascal Enterprises is not the parent company of Modesto Tallow. Rather, she said, Modesto Tallow is a subsidiary of Modesto Holding Co.
Pascal and Modesto Holding Co. are led by Bill Shirley Jr., a longtime Texas rendering executive. Shirley did not return calls seeking comment over the past two weeks.
Bee staff writer Todd Milbourn can be reached at 578-2339 or tmilbourn@modbee.com.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TALLOW TROUBLE
Here are some other legal problems that Modesto Tallow Co. has faced over the years:
JUNE 1999: Modesto Tallow officials plead guilty to violating the federal Clean Water Act by discharging dead animal parts into a lagoon that is part of the Tuolumne River. Plant manager Larry Bietz later is sentenced to a year in prison for forging water samples. The company pays a $600,000 fine.
JULY 2003: Modesto Tallow pays $114,508 to settle a case brought by the Solano County district attorney, alleging that company trucks spilled blood and dead animal parts on roads.
JUNE 2004: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agents obtain a search warrant to investigate Modesto Tallow's dealings in Oregon. A special agent alleges that Modesto Tallow rendered chicken carcasses and discharged waste into the Columbia River without a permit, in violation of the Clean Water Act. Three months later, Modesto Tallow pays $100,000 to a Portland-based environmental group, which had threatened to sue the company.