Attorney General's News Release

February 17, 2004

New agreement over hog facilities will use millions more in latest technology to manage waste; schools to get $332,000

A worker at the Homan Farm in Gentry County processes and disinfects animal waste in a pilot project to eliminate pathogens and make the water safe for drinking.

Jefferson City, Mo. — Agricultural giants Premium Standard Farms (PSF) and Conti-Group Cos. (CGC) will spend millions of dollars more to implement the latest animal waste control technology at all their farms to help reduce odor and pollution from their hog facilities in northern Missouri, Attorney General Jay Nixon said today. The requirements for next generation technology at the facilities are in a consent judgment with Nixon signed today by Jackson County Circuit Judge Preston Dean II.

The new agreement updates a landmark court order obtained by the Attorney General five years ago. The 1999 order required the two businesses to spend $25 million to implement next generation technology, to reduce pollution from their facilities in Daviess, Gentry, Mercer, Putnam and Sullivan counties, which contain hundreds of thousands of hogs. The improvements are being overseen by a three-member Management Advisory Board, consisting of experts in the field of animal waste management.

Today's agreement lifts that financial cap and also requires the companies to pay a total of $332,200 to schools in those counties.

"Our 1999 agreement broke new ground in requiring PSF and CGC to use innovative and environmentally appropriate ways to deal with the massive amount of waste produced by hundreds of thousands of hogs," Nixon says. "As a result, PSF has put into place the largest wastewater treatment plant at a hog farm in the country, and there has been a 90 percent reduction in the land application of hog waste and in the amount of nitrogen in the waste that is land applied.

"Today's agreement puts the companies on an even more progressive path, turning recycled animal waste into commercial fertilizer and using essential oil misters to hold down odor at barns located near residences," Nixon says.

PSF and CGC will pay total civil penalties of $332,200, to be divided equally among the school funds of Daviess, Gentry, Harrison, Mercer, Putnam and Sullivan counties. Each county school fund will receive $66,400; because the penalties are being paid by a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO), they will not be offset by future foundation formula payments. The penalties resolve allegations of water pollution caused by spills from PSF and CGC facilities since the 1999 court order.

Crystal Peak.

Under today's agreement, PSF will construct a plant to recycle animal waste flushed from the barns at one of its facilities. The waste will be thickened and dried to create a commercially viable fertilizer product known as Crystal Peak. The recycling plant will be completed within one year after a construction permit is issued by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

PSF will produce Crystal Peak at a plant that will be built in Sullivan County this summer. Workers, right, dry the fertilizer pellets, which are made from recycled animal waste.

PSF and CGC will complete implementation at 11 facilities within seven years, with the last upgrade to be operational by July 31, 2010. The companies also will implement next generation technology at any facility newly constructed or acquired before the 2010 date. Continued monitoring of the progress is another part of the agreement, Nixon says.

Essential oil misters will be implemented by PSF and CGC at 80 of its hog barns. The barns will be selected based on proximity to neighbors, topography and layout of the barns. Use of the oil misters has cut down significantly on odor problems when used at other locations, Nixon says.

"This is largely about being a 'good neighbor' in northern Missouri," Nixon says. "We've turned a tremendous corner in the past five years in that regard. Implementing better technology to reduce pollution and odor will continue PSF and CGC on that path, and I'm proud of our efforts in bringing them to this point and beyond."

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

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