JEFFERSON CITY — For the second time in three months, Gov. Mike Parson’s administration is being sued over its handling of permits for a company that spreads sludge from meatpacking facilities onto farm fields.
A group of residents in Newton County, located in southwest Missouri, filed a 22-page environmental lawsuit Oct. 29 against the Missouri Department of Natural Resources 10 days after 6,000 gallons of slaughterhouse waste leaked into ditches and fields near Fairview.
The lawsuit asks a judge to order DNR to require Arkansas-based Denali Water Solutions to “cease any and all activities and operations” at any facility it uses to store waste.
“By allowing Denali to construct and operate each of the earthen basins without requiring Denali to obtain a construction permit… (DNR) is exceeding its lawful authority and failing to comply with its nondiscretionary legal duty,” the lawsuit says.
The legal action comes as a judge has already barred DNR from issuing a permit to Denali for an animal waste lagoon in Randolph County, located north of Columbia, after citizens there banded together in response to concerns about odors, land degradation and water pollution.
That case, as well as the new lawsuit, reveals regulatory loopholes in how the state issues permits for companies that collect waste from meatpacking facilities.
Previously, the material was classified as fertilizer, but a change in policy earlier this year has moved oversight to DNR, which is grappling with reports of leaks and spills and odors.
Denali has said it is a “soil preparation” company, but also has received permits in Arkansas as a “refuse” company, resulting in questions over which state environmental laws should apply to the permitting process.
The practice has become controversial among rural residents at the same time Parson, a cattle farmer, has led the charge to expand meatpacking facilities in Missouri.
Along with concerns about Denali’s practices, property owners in St. Charles County have expressed concern about wastewater discharges from a new beef processing facility being built near Wright City.
In that case, the American Foods Group meat plant, expected to bring 1,300 jobs to the region to process as many as 2,400 cattle per day, is planning to pump its treated wastewater into a creek that flows into Lake Saint Louis.
DNR is reviewing the company’s permit request.
DNR spokeswoman Connie Patterson said the agency had not yet been served with the lawsuit and could not comment.
But, DNR has taken action against Denali in other spill incidents.
In July, Denali agreed to pay $30,000 in fines related to a McDonald County spill and is pursuing action on a separate spill in early October near Noel.
In the latest event, DNR began investigating a spill from the Fairview-area lagoon on Oct. 20.
Denali said in a statement to the Joplin Globe that the break occurred on a hose that was transporting liquid food processing residuals from a storage basin to a field. The substance was being spread as a fertilizer on cropland.
“These food processing residuals are non-hazardous byproducts of wastewater treatment from nearby food facilities,” according to the statement. “The consistency of the material is similar to a milkshake. Because it contains significant amounts of nitrogen, it is a valuable soil amendment for farmers.”
The company vacuumed up the material with a pumper truck and spread new gravel on a road impacted by the spill.
Denali did not respond to a request for comment.
Lawmakers could wade into the dispute next year.
Senate Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin, R-Shelbina, earlier raised red flags about the company’s practices.
“I know we’re an agricultural state, and I realize people like to eat. But I am concerned about it,” she told the Post-Dispatch.
Senate Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin addresses reporters Thursday after taking the helm of the GOP caucus. Video by Jack Suntrup/Post-Dispatch
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