Dakota Pork sentenced for wastewater violations at former Mitchell plant

The Daily Republic - South Dakota

Published Monday, August 04, 2008

SIOUX FALLS — Dakota Pork Industries Inc. (DPI), represented by Carl Kuehne, its president, was sentenced Monday in federal court to pay a $50,000 fine for wastewater violations committed at its former Mitchell plant.

U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Piersol also ordered the company to pay $175,000 of restitution to the City of Mitchell, but that order is merely a formality. The company agreed on that amount back in 2005 after conducting negotiations with the city, and money already has been paid.

DPI is a Delaware corporation that formerly operated a pork processing plant in Mitchell. On March 7 of this year, DPI pleaded guilty to a charge of tampering with a monitoring device required under the Clean Water Act.

The charge relates to conduct by DPI employees who tampered with a device used to monitor pH levels in the wastewater at its Mitchell plant. These efforts interfered with the accurate recording of pH data which, in turn, led to inaccurate reports to the City of Mitchell. It also meant that DPI failed to properly pretreat its wastewater as required by the terms of a permit issued by the city. Pretreating the wastewater is designed to reduce or eliminate pollutants or alter the properties of the pollutants before sending the wastewater to the treatment works.

Both the $50,000 fine and the $175,000 restitution were part of a recommended sentence contained within a pretrial agreement between DPI and the United States.

The restitution has already been paid to the City of Mitchell, and the fine was paid shortly after the sentencing hearing.

“Failing to accurately monitor and report the presence of pollutants puts our environment at great risk. Today’s sentence recognizes the significance of this violation, ensures accountability and acknowledges the efforts of the corporate defendant to accept responsibility once its wrongful conduct was uncovered,” said U.S. Attorney Marty Jackley.

“Dakota Pork tried to conceal the fact that its wastewater discharges contained pollutants that could harm the City’s wastewater treatment plant,” said Lori Hanson, special agent in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division, Denver Area Office. “Local governments need accurate data in order to protect citizens and the environment. We are pleased with the outcome of this case and the fact that the corporate defendant has accepted responsibility for its wrongful conduct.”

The investigation was conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency, Criminal Investigation Division. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis R. Holmes.

mitchellrepublic.com

Dakota Pork ordered to pay fine

Matthew Gruchow

Argus Leader - South Dakota

August 4, 2008

U.S. District Judge Lawrence Piersol on Monday ordered Dakota Pork to pay a $50,000 fine, after it was found that employees of the company tampered with wastewater monitoring equipment in November 2004.

Company president Carl Kuehne, who also is an attorney, read a statement to the court in which he apologized for the actions of his employees.

“What happened here is very embarrassing to me and disgraceful,” he said.

Dakota Pork was supposed to monitor the pH levels in wastewater before it was released to the Mitchell water treatment center. But when employees would hear an alarm that indicated pH levels were outside permissible ranges, they would tamper with a calibration screw on the monitoring device or remove a probe from the water and place it in a beaker of clean water.

Those actions generated false readings, which indicated the water was relatively clean in reports to city officials. Dakota Pork reached a settlement with the City of Mitchell in November 2005, agreeing to pay them $175,000.

Piersol said that the $175,000 paid to the City of Mitchell will act as Dakota Pork’s restitution for the incident.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis Holmes credited Dakota Pork for the cooperation in the investigation.

“These violations, of course, are very serious,” he said.

The Mitchell plant closed permanently two months after the settlement with the City of Mitchell, but then later was sold to Rosen’s Diversified of Fairmont, Minn., which makes dog food at the plant.

argusleader.com