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July 3, 2025

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Ecosystem Eco Homepage

Md. Orders Linkwood Chicken Rendering Plant Shut Down for Corrective Actions

December 23, 2021 by Bay Journal

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Maryland regulators have ordered a shutdown of a problem-plagued Eastern Shore chicken rendering plant after a tip from an environmental group led them to discover a batch of new pollution violations there.

The Maryland Department of the Environment on Dec. 21 directed Valley Proteins Inc. to cease operations at its facility in Linkwood in Dorchester County until it can meet its wastewater discharge permit limits and reduce the risk of overflows from its storage lagoons. The MDE threatened to fine or suspend the plant’s permit altogether if it failed to comply with prescribed corrective actions.

Michael A. Smith, vice chairman of the Winchester, VA, based company, said it had agreed to a temporary shutdown until it can lower the levels of its storage lagoons and meet permit requirements.

“We are working cooperatively with MDE to resolve the issue as quickly as possible,” Smith said.

The shutdown order comes after a series of MDE inspections this month found multiple problems at the facility. According to MDE inspection reports, those included an illegal discharge into a holding pond, discharges of sludge and inadequately treated wastewater into a stream leading to the Transquaking River, and leaks and overflows from treatment tanks.

At Valley Proteins’ poultry rendering plant, workers clean up sludge that was discovered in a stream leading to the Transquaking River. (MD Department of the Environment)

The inspections were triggered by drone images provided by ShoreRivers, a coalition of Eastern Shore riverkeeper organizations, showing a grayish discharge from the rendering plant’s wastewater outfall, according to a letter MDE Secretary Ben Grumbles wrote to a Valley Proteins executive.

Choptank Riverkeeper Matt Pluta, a member of ShoreRivers staff, said that while doing aerial surveillance on Dec. 10, he saw “a large, discolored discharge” coming from the Linkwood facility and flowing downstream toward the Transquaking.

The MDE inspected the plant later the same day and reported it found acidic, inadequately treated wastewater being released into a stream, chlorine-treated wastewater leaking onto the ground, and foam and wastewater overflowing from another treatment tank.

The following week, more MDE inspections found waste sludge in a stream outfall leading to the Transquaking, continuing improper discharges both to the stream and onto the ground and inadequate cleanup of earlier detected leaks, spills and overflows. The MDE also found raw chicken waste on the ground. Regulators ordered the plant to cease discharges until the wastewater could be treated sufficiently to meet its permit limits.

“Chemical spills, tanks are overflowing, illegal discharges coming from all over the treatment process. It’s an absolute mess,” Pluta said of the conditions described in the inspection reports.

Neighbors and environmental groups have complained for years about the Valley Proteins plant, which takes up to 4 million pounds of chicken entrails and feathers daily from poultry processing plants and renders them into pet food.

The Transquaking, which flows into Fishing Bay, a Chesapeake Bay tributary, has been classified for more than two decades as impaired by nutrient pollution. The rendering plant is the river’s largest single source of such pollution, which fuels algae blooms and reduces oxygen levels in the water below what’s healthy for fish and other aquatic animals.

In his Dec. 16 letter to the company, the MDE’s Grumbles called the Linkwood plant’s operations “unacceptable.” He said the company’s recent compliance record “indicates a pattern of improper operations and poor decision-making regarding water pollution and air emissions issues.”

Another follow-up inspection on Dec. 20 found evidence of more sludge having been discharged in recent days, despite cleanups of earlier releases and leaks. The inspector also found that the plant had stopped discharging and its wastewater lagoons were filling up, despite some of the wastewater being trucked away. That prompted the shutdown order.

Valley Proteins’ Smith said the company is complying.

“We have a plan in place to move as much of our incoming supply to other [renderers] and or landfills in the short term,” he said by email. The company also has arranged, he said, to lower the levels in its storage lagoons by trucking “treated clarified water” from them to an unnamed local wastewater plant.

Sludge from the Valley Proteins chicken rendering plant in Linkwood, MD, fouls a stream leading to the Transquaking River. (MD Department of the Environment)

“We have seen our system improve over the last few days and anticipate being able to operate shortly,” he concluded.

MDE spokesman Jay Apperson said Valley Proteins is putting together a plan for returning to operation, but he said the company’s plan would have to persuade the MDE that it will comply with its discharge limits and other permit requirements.

In April, Pluta’s ShoreRivers group joined with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Dorchester Citizens for Planned Growth to threaten a lawsuit against the company, accusing it of repeatedly exceeding discharge limits on pollutants such as fecal coliform bacteria, nitrogen, phosphorus and ammonia.

Grayish liquid on the ground that, according to an MDE inspector, leaked from a chlorine treatment chamber at Valley Proteins’ wastewater treatment plant. (MD Department of the Environment)

The plant has been operating on an outdated discharge permit since 2006, and neighbors and environmental groups have been calling on the MDE to impose tighter requirements. Meanwhile, in 2014, the company applied for state approval to nearly quadruple its wastewater output, from 150,000 gallons to 575,000 gallons daily.

In September, the MDE released a new draft permit that would tighten limits on what the company could discharge. State regulators set caps on discharges of nitrogen and phosphorus that would require the company to upgrade its wastewater treatment facility, even if it did not expand operations.

State regulators also vowed to seek “a significant financial penalty” as well as corrective actions for a series of water and air pollution violations it had documented at the Shore facility.

That represented a shift in the MDE’s approach to the rendering plant. Earlier this year, the department had planned to provide Valley Proteins nearly $13 million to upgrade the wastewater treatment system at its Linkwood facility. Some lawmakers objected to giving public funds to a private company with a history of discharge violations, and the legislature limited such grants to half of any projected cost. After finding more violations at the plant, the MDE subsequently withdrew the grant offer.

Critics of the plant welcomed the MDE’s pledge to take enforcement action. But at hearings in October and November, they demanded that the state put more teeth in the plant’s discharge permit. They called for independent monitoring of its discharges, curbs on any planned increase in the rendering plant’s operations until it corrects all deficiencies and the MDE pledges to fine and take enforcement action for any future violations.

Pluta said the latest developments add to his concerns about the rendering facility and about the state’s ability to oversee it.

“We recognize that there’s a need for this type of operation,” he said, “but if you can’t operate within the guidelines of the law, of your permit, then you shouldn’t be able to operate at all.”

Pluta also questioned whether the MDE has enough staff and resources to ensure compliance, noting that the MDE only discovered problems there after he reported seeing a suspicious discharge.

“They’ve been inspecting monthly and didn’t come up with all this stuff,” he said.

The public comment period on Valley Proteins’ draft permit, which was extended for 60 days, remains open until Jan. 14, 2022.

MDE spokesman Jay Apperson said department officials will consider all comments received in making a final decision on the company’s permit application.

But Apperson also released a statement from the MDE secretary, saying, “We are much more focused on enforcement and correcting any ongoing violations before taking any actions on a draft permit.”

By Timothy B. Wheeler

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: Eco Homepage Tagged With: chicken rendering plant, dorchester county, environment, linkwood, mde, overflows, permit, pollution, storage lagoons, valley proteins, violations, wastewater discharge

Senate Set to Vote on Funding for Reconstruction of Chesapeake Bay Islands

August 6, 2021 by Bay Journal

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The Senate Appropriations Committee has signed off on $37.5 million in spending that could launch the reconstruction of James and Barren islands in the Chesapeake Bay.

The Aug. 4 approval sets up a vote before the full Senate. The legislation will then undergo negotiations between the House and Senate to merge their differing versions of the measure, which is part of the $53 billion Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill.

The current House bill does not include the James and Barren funding.

The $1.9 billion undertaking, called the Mid-Chesapeake Bay Island Ecosystem Restoration, will rebuild two eroding islands off the coast of Dorchester County, MD. In all, it will create more than 2,100 acres of new land.

The fill will be dredged from the shipping channels for the Port of Baltimore, keeping the lanes open for cargo traffic.

The funding would cover the first year of planned construction. Critically, the move transfers the effort off the “new start” phase, where projects can languish for years, said Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland.

“The project will build the resiliency of Dorchester County communities, provide new habitats for a variety of fish and wildlife, support commerce at the port and enhance safety for boats and ships navigating the Bay,” Cardin said. “Having worked for years to make this vision a reality, I am heartened to announce that we are finally taking decisive steps toward giving the Mid-Bay Island Project what it needs to move forward in earnest.”

By Jeremy Cox

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: Eco Homepage Tagged With: bay, Chesapeake Bay, dorchester county, dredge, environment, eroding, erosion, fill, islands, port of baltimore, reconstruction

Dorchester Voters Pick School Board Members; Kent, Talbot Races Unopposed

November 6, 2020 by Spy Desk

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Voters in Dorchester, Talbot, and Kent counties elected candidates to 4-year terms on their county school boards.

Dorchester was the only county that had contested school board races.

In District 1, Mike D. Diaz defeated Phil Bramble to win a seat on the Dorchester County Board of Education. Diaz won 62% to 37%.

Susan Morgan ousted incumbent Philip W. Rice, the current school board president, in District 3, winning 68% to 31% for Rice.

Laura Hill Layton kept her District 5 seat, defeating Voncia L. Molock in a rematch of the 2016 election. Layton had 66% to 34% for Molock. In 2016, Layton won 73% to 27%.

In Talbot County, candidates for the three seats up for election ran unopposed.

Candace Henry won District 2, Susan Delean-Botkin was re-elected in District 5, and Mary Wheeler was re-elected in District 6.

In Kent County, Joe Goetz and Francoise Sullivan were unopposed in their bids for the two seats up for election.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: Ed Homepage Tagged With: board of education, dorchester county, election, Kent County, Talbot County, vote

Mid-Shore Counties Favor Trump, But Margins Differ From 2016

November 4, 2020 by John Griep

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Voters in Talbot, Dorchester, and Kent counties again favored Republican Donald Trump for president.

Democratic challenger Joe Biden outperformed Hillary Clinton in one county, while the incumbent had a higher percentage of the vote in 2020 in the other two.

In Talbot County, Trump’s margin of victory slipped from 2016.

Unofficial 2020 results show Republican incumbent Trump with 50.5% of the vote in Talbot County. Democrat Joe Biden garnered 47.3% and Libertarian Jo Jorgensen had 1.1%.

Vice President Joe Biden (Photo by Gage Skidmore)

Biden is faring better in Talbot County than Hillary Clinton did in 2016. Trump took 53.06% of the county’s vote four years ago, Clinton had 42.81%, Libertarian Gary Johnson had 3.13%, and Green Jill Stein had 1 percent.

The 2020 numbers likely will shift as election officials count remaining ballots on Nov. 5 and Nov. 13.

Republican incumbent Rep. Andy Harris also saw his Talbot County support dip in the 2020 race for First District.

Harris sits at 54.9% in Talbot and Democratic challenger Mia Mason has 45%.

In 2016, Harris had 60.8% of the vote in Talbot County, with 35.79% for Democrat Joe Werner and 3.41% for Libertarian Matt Beers.

In Dorchester County, Biden underperforms Clinton; Harris maintains margin of victory

Trump leads Biden 58.2% to 39.5% in the county. In 2016, Trump had 55.7% to 41.35% for Clinton.

Harris currently has 62.1% of Dorchester’s vote, with 37.7% for Mason. In 2016, Harris had 61.27%, Werner had 35.82%, and Beers had 2.9%.

Biden polls lower in Kent County: Harris essentially unchanged

Trump has 52.5% of Kent’s vote this year; he had 49.36% in 2016.

Biden has 44.9% compared to 46.31% for Clinton four years ago.

Harris essentially maintained his margin of victory from 2016.

Four years ago, Harris had 56.36%, Werner had 40.44%, and Beers had 3.2%.

Harris currently has 55.4% of Kent’s vote this year and Mason has 44.4%.

This post has been updated to correct the election year in which Joe Werner challenged Andy Harris.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: 2 News Homepage Tagged With: ballot, dorchester county, election, first district, Kent County, president, Talbot County, vote

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