No action taken in Pilgrim's egg farms case

By LORI COPE | East Texas Edition

July 4, 2002 -- "Still evaluating how to proceed" is the official word from Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) regarding the situation at the egg farms owned by Pilgrim's Poultry in Camp County.

The egg farms, were hundreds of thousands of chickens are housed, lack a permit on how to handle the waste and wastewater generated at the facilities. A permit, obtained through TNRCC, would mean the method of handling the waste has met the state's water quality standards.

On May 13, TNRCC Executive Director Jeffrey Saitas ordered the farms to immediately reduce the amount of wastewater in the lagoons because they had reached capacity, therefore posing a risk for discharge.

Saitas also said on May 13 that he would "delay requesting the Attorney General's office to seek an injunction ordering Pilgrim to cease discharges into the lagoons for a period of 45 days so that the birds can be moved or the facility begins to operate lawfully under a TNRCC permit."

June 28 marked the end of the 45-day reprieve.

Pilgrim's began a wastewater permit application for the egg farms, also called Strube Farms, in 1998. In the summer of 1999, TNRCC fined Pilgrim's for operating the farms without a permit and gave them 10 months to gain a permit or cease operations. Pilgrims has been granted time extensions to complete the permitting process.

On June 28, a TNRCC spokesperson said "the TNRCC executive director would be the one to make any decision (about the future of the farm's operations)."