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House of Raeford found guilty in water pollution case, plant manager cleared
Story Date: 8/22/2012
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Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 8/21/12
A federal jury on Tuesday convicted House of Raeford on 10 counts of violating the Clean Water Act at its Raeford, N.C., poultry plant, but the facility’s manager was exonerated of all charges in a related case, according to court documents and the Department of Justice.
House of Raeford had been charged with 14 counts of water pollution stemming from activities between December 2004 and August 2006. The feds accused the company, among other things, of allowing plant employees to bypass the facility’s wastewater treatment system and send its untreated effluent directly to the city’s wastewater treatment plant without notifying city officials.
“Publicly owned wastewater treatment plants must be protected from companies that cut corners by discharging wastewater illegally,” Maureen O’Mara, Special Agent in Charge of EPA Region 4, said in the DOJ’s statement. “The defendants in this case deliberately discharged turkey parts, blood and grease into the wastewater plant for over 16 months, bypassing treatment. Today’s conviction sends the message that the American public will not tolerate companies putting profit ahead of compliance.”
In a separate but related case against the plant’s manager, a jury found Gregory Steenblock not guilty on all 14 counts levied against him, court documents show.
House of Raeford issued the following statement: “House of Raeford Farms is pleased with the jury’s complete exoneration of Gregory Steenblock, of the company’s processing plant in Raeford, NC. We are also pleased that the jury recognized House of Raeford’s innocence of several of the charges levied against the company. House of Raeford will continue to address the remaining charges in the courts.
“The government repeatedly admitted during the trial that none of the materials it claimed went into the City of Raeford’s sewer system ever reached the environment. House of Raeford completed a $1.4 million upgrade to its wastewater pre-treatment system in September 2006 that solved the issues that led to the trial. House of Raeford is committed to maintaining a high level of compliance with all environmental regulations through its company-wide environmental policy, which is overseen by a full-time Environmental Manager.”
The case, first filed in November 2011, was prosecuted by the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section and was investigated by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division and North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
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