Cal-Maine Foods, Inc.
Outcome
Cal-Maine Foods agreed to pay $475,000 civil penalty and implement wastewater treatment upgrades projected to reduce annual nitrogen discharge by 89,000 pounds and phosphorus by 20,000 pounds from its Edwards, Mississippi facility confining over 2 million birds.
Details
Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. — NPDES Violations at Edwards, Mississippi Egg Facility (2015)
Outcome: Cal-Maine Foods, one of the nation's largest egg producers, agreed to pay a $475,000 civil penalty and implement wastewater treatment upgrades projected to reduce annual nitrogen discharge by 89,000 pounds and phosphorus discharge by 20,000 pounds from its Edwards, Mississippi facility.
Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., headquartered in Ridgeland, Mississippi, and one of the largest egg producers in the United States, operated a poultry egg production facility in Edwards, Mississippi that confined over 2 million birds. The facility violated its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit through unauthorized discharges, including discharge of cooling spray condensate comingled with manure, litter, and process wastewater — a mix of biological waste with nutrient concentrations far exceeding permit limits. The facility also discharged industrial stormwater to waters of the state without required permit authorization.
The settlement, announced April 13, 2015, required Cal-Maine to pay a $475,000 civil penalty split evenly between the United States and Mississippi DEQ, bring the facility into full NPDES permit compliance, implement an enhanced environmental data collection and reporting program, and develop standard operating procedures for wastewater management. The compliance deadline was set for April 30, 2016. Projected annual pollutant reductions upon full compliance: 89,000 pounds of nitrogen and 20,000 pounds of phosphorus discharged to the Big Black River watershed.
The Big Black River drains into the Mississippi River, and nutrient loading from poultry operations in the Mississippi River Basin contributes to the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico. The Cal-Maine settlement reflects EPA's broader National Agriculture Initiative focus on large-scale egg and poultry operations as significant point sources of nutrient pollution requiring NPDES permit compliance rather than reliance on voluntary best management practices.
Primary Source: Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. Clean Water Act Settlement | US EPA
How Crucible Prevents This
A facility confining over 2 million birds generates wastewater volumes that require continuous NPDES permit compliance monitoring. Crucible's compliance calendar tracking nutrient discharge monitoring schedules and permit reporting deadlines, combined with session-init MEMORY reviewing current permit compliance status, would surface permit limit trends before they become documented violations. The unauthorized stormwater discharge from industrial activity areas — discharge of cooling spray condensate comingled with manure — indicates inadequate SPCC and stormwater management documentation that a pre-tool-check protocol review would catch.
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