VIA CERTIFIED MAIL: ____________________

NOTICE OF VIOLATION

To:    Mr. Michael Wilfert, Plant Manager
    Plumrose USA, Inc.
    24402 County Road 45
    P.O. Box 160
    Elkhart, Indiana 46515-0160

Cause No. B-2299

    Designated representative(s) of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) have reviewed reports for groundwater monitoring wells located on Warner & Son's, Inc. landfill, in the 24000 block of County Road 45 in Elkhart, Indiana. The monitoring wells are immediately east of the Plumrose USA, Inc. meat packaging plant, located at 24402 County Road 45, Elkhart County, Elkhart, Indiana (the "Respondent").

    Based on the above noted review the Respondent was found in violation of the following provisions of the Indiana Code (IC) and Indiana Administrative Code (IAC):

    327 IAC 5-2-2 states that any discharge of pollutants into the waters of the state as a point source discharge, except for exclusions made in 327 IAC 5-2-4, is prohibited unless in conformity with a valid NPDES permit obtained prior to the discharge.

    327 IAC 2-1-7 states:

    (a)    All ground waters of the state which are a present or probable future source for public or industrial water supply shall meet the water quality standards set forth in subsection (b) and either subsection (c) or (d), or both, depending upon the use being or expected to be made, at the point at which such waters are withdrawn for use, except due to natural causes.

    (b)    This subsection establishes the following conditions for minimum ground water quality conditions:

        (1)    All ground waters at all times and at all places shall meet the minimum conditions of being free from substances, materials floating debris, oil, or scum attributable to municipal, industrial, agricultural, and other land use practices or other discharges:

            (A)    that will settle to form putrescent or otherwise objectionable deposits;

            (B)    that are in amounts sufficient to be unsightly or deleterious;

            (C)    that produces color, odor, or other conditions in such degree as to create a nuisance;

            (D)    which are in amounts sufficient to injure, be acutely toxic to, or otherwise produce serious adverse physiological responses in humans, animals, aquatic life, or plants; and

            (E)    which are in concentrations or combinations that will cause or contribute to the growth of aquatic plants or algae to such a degree as to create a nuisance, be unsightly, or otherwise impair the designated uses.

        (2)    At all times, all ground waters shall be free of substances in concentrations which on the basis of available scientific data are believed to be sufficient to injure, be chronically toxic to, or be carcinogenic, mutagenic, or teratogenic to humans, animals, aquatic life, or plants.

    (c)    This subsection establishes ground water quality for public supply. In addition to subsection (b), the following standards are established to protect the water quality at the point at which water is withdrawn for treatment for a public supply:

        (1)    The coliform bacteria group shall not exceed four (4) per one hundred (100) milliliters (MF count).

        (2)    Taste and odor producing substances, other than naturally occurring, shall not interfere with the production of a finished water by conventional

treatment consisting of coagulation, sedimentation, filtration, and disinfection.

        (3)    The concentration of either chlorides or sulfates shall not exceed two hundred fifty (250) milligrams per liter other than due to naturally occurring sources.

        (4)    Ground water shall be considered acceptable for public supplies if Radium-226 and Strontium-90 are present in amounts not exceeding three (3) and ten (10) picocuries per liter, respectively. In the known absence of Strontium-90 and alpha emitters, the water supply is acceptable when the gross beta concentrations do not exceed one thousand (1,000) picocuries per liter.

        (5)    Chemical constituents in ground waters shall not be present in such levels as to prevent, after conventional treatment, meeting and drinking water standards contained in 327 IAC 8-2, due to other than natural causes.

    (d)    This subsection established water quality for industrial water supply. In addition to subsection (b), the standard to ensure protection of water quality at the point at which water is withdrawn for use (either with or without treatment) for industrial cooling and processing is that, other from naturally occurring sources, the dissolved solids shall not exceed seven hundred fifty (750) milligrams per liter at any time. A specific conductance of one thousand two hundred (1,200) micromhos per centimeter (at twenty-five degrees Celsius (25*C)) may be considered equivalent to a dissolved solids concentration of seven hundred fifty (750) milligrams per liter.

    IC 13-18-4-5 states, in part, that it is unlawful for any person to throw, run, drain, or otherwise dispose into any of the streams or waters of this state, or to cause, permit, or suffer to be thrown, run, drained, allowed to seep, or otherwise disposed into any waters, any organic or inorganic matter that shall cause or contribute to a polluted condition of any waters, according to any rule of the board under section 7 of this chapter.

    IC 13-30-2-1 requires, in substance, that a person may not discharge, emit, cause, allow, or threaten to discharge, emit, cause, or allow any contaminant or waste including any noxious odor, either alone or in combination with contaminants from other sources, into the environment or into any publicly owned treatment works in any form which causes or would cause pollution

which violates rules, standards, or discharge of emission requirements adopted by the appropriate board pursuant to this article.

    The Respondent has made use of two (2) active lagoons for the discharge of process wastewater for over 3 years. On May 6, 1997, IDEM received a Summary of Analytical Data for the Monitoring Wells from EIS Environmental Engineers, Inc., for groundwater monitoring wells located on Warner & Son's, Inc. landfill. There are three (3) ground water wells that had been installed by the landfill to monitor any potential pollutants coming from the Plumrose USA lagoons. These wells were installed on the west side of the landfill immediately adjacent to the Respondent's east property line. Sampling data shows that contamination of the area groundwater has resulted due to the unpermitted discharge of pollutants from the Respondent's process wastewater which contains high levels of Chloride and Dissolved Solids.

    The Respondent operates a ham processing plant that has wastewater discharging into the two lagoons. The lagoons were designed to provide ground absorption and disposal of the process wastewater. Over the past several years Chloride and Dissolved Solids have been detected in the groundwater by the monitoring wells. The levels of contamination are considered harmful to the public health and in violation of Indiana environmental rules and statutes.

    In accordance with IC 13-30-3-3, the Commissioner is required to notify you in writing that the Commissioner believes a violation exists and offer you an opportunity to enter into an Agreed Order providing for the actions required to correct the violations and for the payment of a civil penalty. The Commissioner is not required to extend this offer for more than sixty (60) days.

    If settlement is not reached within sixty (60) days of your receipt of this Notice, the Commissioner may issue an Order pursuant to IC 13-30-3-4, containing the actions you must take to achieve compliance, the required time frames, and an appropriate civil penalty. Pursuant to IC 13-30-4-1, the Commissioner may assess penalties of up to $25,000 per day of any violation.

    The timely entry into an Agreed Order will prevent the necessity of an Order of the Commissioner being issued under IC 13-30-3-4, or the filing of a civil court action under IC 13- 14-10 or IC 13-14-2-6. Advantages of entering into an Agreed Order are:

    1.    You may not be required to admit that any violation occurred.

    2.    The civil penalty may be less than that imposed under an Order of the Commissioner.

    To discuss this matter further, please contact Steven Judith at 317/232-8409 within fifteen (15) days after receipt of this Notice to request a conference. If settlement is reached, an Agreed Order will be prepared and sent to you for review and signature.

                            For the Commissioner:

Date:    August 1, 1998                _________________________
                            David J. Hensel
                            Director
                            Office of Enforcement

cc:    Jim Filippini, Chief, Compliance Unit 2
     U.S. EPA, Region 5, Water Section
    Elkhart County Health Department

    
cc info:    Jim Filippini, Chief, Compliance Unit 2
        U.S. EPA, Region 5, Water Section
        Mail Code: WC-15J
        77 West Jackson Boulevard
        Chicago, IL 60604-3590

Converted by Andrew Scriven