Concerns continue to fester over Missouri Prime Beef Packers’ request to discharge up to 350,000 gallons per day of treated wastewater from its processing facility into a southwest Missouri river that is already considered impaired — and the potential that the state of Missouri may allow it.
State environmental regulators proposed including the Pomme de Terre River, which meanders through the Ozarks in the southwestern part of the state, on a federal list of impaired waterways a few months ago due to E. coli contamination, according to The Missouri Independent. And critics of Missouri Prime Beef Packers’ proposal state the company’s environmental record at the plant points to why regulators should disallow the discharge.
The Missouri Prime plant processes more than 3,500 cattle per week and is located near Pleasant Hope, Mo., and would treat the wastewater then discharge it into the river directly. Currently, the reports say, the discharge is land-applied as fertilizer.
Opponents say the facility has violated environmental regulations in the past, and that the proprietary technology that the plant uses to treat the wastewater has not been studied and deemed effective. Missouri Prime did not respond to the news outlet’s request for comment.
The request is pending with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, and opponents have requested a public hearing on the matter.
