OSHA cites Case Farms for alleged ammonia hazards

Federal inspections of Case Farms’ processing facilities in Ohio have resulted in an additional $462,000 in penalties for alleged deficiencies in ammonia refrigeration systems at two of the company’s poultry processing facilities in Ohio. With the latest citation, Case Farms has been issued more than $1.87 million in fines from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in 2015 for allegedly exposing workers to multiple safety and health violations.
OSHA cited the company for 11 repeated, four serious and two other-than-serious violations on December 1 at Case Farms’ plant in Winesburg, Ohio. Proposed penalties total $308,000. The company’s facility in Canton, Ohio, faces an additional $154,000 in penalties after OSHA cited it for five repeated and three serious violations on December 1.
According to a press release from OSHA, Case Farms has more than 10,000 pounds of ammonia in its refrigeration systems at each plant. Exposure to ammonia can cause serious respiratory illness, and the accidental release of ammonia from pressurized pipes and vessels may have catastrophic consequences.
OSHA also asserts that the company failed to do the following:

• Perform annual bloodborne pathogen refresher training.
• Provide hepatitis B vaccine for workers exposed to bloodborne pathogens.
• Store gas cylinders properly.

Prior to issuing these citations, OSHA in August placed Case Farms in the agency’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program after it assessed $861,500 in penalties following inspections at the company’s Winesburg facility.
OSHA cited Case Farms in September 2015 for exposing workers to amputation, fall, electrical and other serious hazards after two workers suffered amputations while they cleaned machines at the Canton facility. The agency proposed penalties of $424,600 as a result of those inspections.
The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
Case Farms has contested all previous citations.

Foster Farms fined for wastewater discharge

Foster Farms is being fined $44,000 for releasing untreated chicken processing wastewater from its processing facility in Kelso, Washington, on June 6, to the Three Rivers Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant, and not reporting it in a timely manner as required.
The treatment plant was overwhelmed by the volume of the waste and some of it reached the Columbia River. State water quality regulations require Foster Farms to pre-treat its wastewater before it is discharged to the Three Rivers treatment plant, the Washington Department of Ecology stated in a press release. The event was a violation of Foster Farms water quality permit.
Three Rivers treatment plant operators found large amounts of grease and feathers throughout their plant. They removed nearly one cubic yard of feathers and other chicken processing waste from the plant’s inlet screen.  
In addition to the fine, Foster Farms was ordered to update its operation and maintenance manual to identify how it will protect the Three Rivers Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant from these types of discharges in the future.
While Foster Farms has 30 days to appeal the penalties, the company stated the importance of environmental responsibility and that future steps are being taken to prevent similar issues.
“Environmental responsibility is important to all of us at Foster Farms. During the installation of new wastewater treatment equipment at our Kelso, Washington, facility, an unplanned discharge occurred. While employees worked to correct the treatment issue on site immediately, the company regrets that notification was inadvertently delayed to the Three Rivers Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant. Foster Farms has an excellent record of permit compliance and self-reporting. The company is reinforcing notification procedures throughout facility operations. We have also taken steps to prevent future wastewater issues. Foster Farms intends to pay the penalty,” Foster Farms said in a statement.

O’Kane Poultry fined £1,000 for pollution offenses

O'Kane Poultry, a vertically-integrated chicken and turkey production company based in Northern Ireland, was fined a total of £1,000 (US$1,604. 21) plus court costs for making polluting discharges to a waterway. The company was fined for £500 (US$802.09) for each of two offenses at Ballymena Magistrates' Court on September 24.
On March 23, 2012, a report of a pollution incident at a Ballymena poultry farm, owned and operated by O'Kane Poultry, was made to the Northern Ireland Environment Agency via the pollution hotline by a member of the public. Upon investigation, an officer from the agency observed poultry farm waste impacting on the Burn Gushet River. The source of the polluting discharge was traced to the reported poultry farm.
On November 28, 2012, the agency received another report of a pollution incident from a member of the public via the pollution hotline. The reported act was traced to a chicken and turkey slaughtering and rendering facility, also in Ballymena and owned and operated by O'Kane Poultry. During an investigation, localized chicken waste contamination was found on the bed of Deerfin Burn. The source of the polluting discharge was traced to an O'Kane Poultry chicken and turkey slaughtering and rendering facility in Ballymena.
"The circumstances around the cause of each of the incidents were beyond the knowledge of the company, and therefore not in any way a deliberate or negligent act on the part of the company or its employees," a company spokesman said. "As soon as we became aware of these matters, we immediately implemented corrective actions. O'Kane Poultry takes its environmental obligations very seriously and has no record of any previous prosecutions by the Environment Agency."

House of Raeford Farms fined for Clean Water Act violations

House of Raeford Farms has been ordered by a federal judge to pay a $150,000 fine for sending untreated wastewater containing blood and turkey parts into a city treatment plant.
In addition, the judge sentenced the North Carolina poultry processor to two years' probation and ordered the company to pay a special assessment of $4,000 for 10 counts of knowingly violating the Clean Water Act, according to an Associated Press report.
The U.S. Justice Department said that the company allowed employees to send untreated wastewater contaminated with blood, grease and body parts from slaughtered turkeys directly to the city of Raeford's wastewater treatment plant without telling city officials. The company has said the government admitted during a previous trial that none of the materials it said went into the town's sewer system reached the environment.

Koch Foods fined $536K for immigration violations

Koch Foods Inc. has paid more than $536,000 in fines for immigration violations at its Fairfield, Ohio, poultry processing plant, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The penalties were for failure to fill out and verify certain employment forms, and were imposed after investigations following a 2007 raid on the plant involving 161 immigrants working without legal documentation. Koch hiring personnel did not knowingly break the law, an attorney for the company told the Associated Press.