Missouri Prime Beef Packers Withdraws Application for Wastewater Discharge into River

Faced with a potential denial of its application for a permit to discharge up to 350,000 gallons of wastewater into the Pomme De Terre watershed in southwest Missouri, meat processor Missouri Prime Beef Packers has withdrawn the application, according to local news reports.

The company last summer asked the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for approval to treat and discharge wastewater from its Pleasant Hope, Mo., facility into the river instead of the land application process it had been using for its wastewater. In August, local residents voiced their concerns over the addition of the plant’s wastewater to a river that was already showing signs of pushing the limits of acceptable contaminants. Opponents to Missouri Prime Beef Packers’ plan had pushed for the watershed to be labeled an impaired waterway based on data on the limits of certain contaminants.

In November, the DNR reportedly had drafted a notice of its intent to deny the permit, another local news report said. In addition, the DNR said in a separate report that the company was not authorized to discharge wastewater until such time it holds a permit, and that it couldn’t currently land apply the wastewater “until it receives a permit or through temporary enforceable operational parameters established through the department.”