EPA Takes Action to Protect Sandberg Creek and Fines Newburg Egg Processing Corp. for Violating Clean Water Act

May 23, 2023

NEW YORK – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has settled an administrative case against Newburg Egg Processing Corp. for allegedly failing to meet standards in the wastewater it treats and sends to a wastewater treatment plant. The company's alleged failures led to excessive nitrogen and ammonia pollution that passed through the wastewater treatment plant and into Sandburg Creek in the Village of Woodridge, NY. The company will pay a penalty of $100,000 for not meeting the pollution limits and has already taken steps to address the cause of the violations.

"Newburg Egg and other companies must comply with all aspects of the Clean Water Act including properly treating their industrial wastewater," said EPA Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia. "EPA will hold companies accountable when they violate critical laws that protect public health and the environment. We are glad that the company chose to cooperate and is investing in needed equipment."

As an industrial source, the company must first treat its waste stream – a process referred to as pre-treatment -- before discharging it to the municipal wastewater treatment plant. This pre-treatment prevents excessive pollution levels, which can interfere with the effectiveness of the wastewater treatment plant. In this case the pollution levels that Newburg Egg discharged caused the Woodbridge, NY treatment plant to exceed pollution limits set by a New York wastewater permit.

As a result of these violations, excessive amounts of nitrogen, ammonia, phosphorus and other materials were discharged into Sandburg Creek between January 2018 to June 2021. To prevent this from happening again, Newburg Egg has added additional capacity to hold their wastewater and properly pretreat it before discharging to the Woodridge wastewater treatment plant. Newburg Egg has separately agreed to install a new polymer mix and feed system to provide better treatment to remove contaminants like nitrogen, ammonia and phosphorus at its pretreatment plant. This will improve its process wastewater treatment prior to discharge to the village wastewater treatment plant.

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