Environmentalists May Sue Broadway, Poultry Plants
US - Environmentalists are considering suing Broadway and two poultry plants for what they say is ongoing pollution of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River.
9 January 2008
2 minute read
The Waterkeeper Alliance, a New York-based water quality advocacy group, is researching two possible federal lawsuits - one against the town of Broadway and another naming Pilgrim's Pride Corp. and Cargill Meat Solutions Corp. The suits would be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, said William Gerlach, the group's attorney.
The environmental group may sue Broadway if it can prove the town isn't complying with a state pollution permit at the wastewater-treatment facility in Timberville, Gerlach said.
Last fall, Broadway bought the plant for $2.4 million after the former owner, SIL Clean Water, put it up for auction. The plant treats wastewater from the towns of Broadway and Timberville, as well as the nearby poultry plants owned by Pilgrim's Pride Corp. and Cargill Meat Solutions Corp.
The group also is considering suing the poultry companies under the federal Clean Water Act for allegedly inundating and overwhelming the facility with waste, Gerlach said.
