Source:  Chris Scott, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 1/11/11

Cargill Inc. announced plans Tuesday to begin a program designed to improve the quality of the water discharged from its beef processing facility in Fort Morgan, Colo., at an estimated cost of $6 million.

The project will address the discharge of total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) and phosphorous into the South Platte River at a plant that processes about 1.2 million head of cattle annually. The project will also provide improved biogas production, capture and use from organic materials in the facility’s wastewater.

Work is scheduled to begin in mid-2011 and is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2012. The project is part of a continuing water quality upgrade initiative at the Fort Morgan plant, which has already reduced nitrate discharge into local waterways by 70 percent between 2005 and 2009, the company said. The facility is already compliant with all state water requirements for discharge into the South Platte River, it added.

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.