Judge proposes Pilgrim's permits be ok'd

By LORI COPE | East Texas Edition

June 12, 2003 -- A judge's decision in early June is deemed a "victory" for Pilgrim's Pride, according to the company's Vice President Cliff Butler.

On June 4, Administrative Law Judge William Newchurch of the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) issued a proposal to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) commissioners that the permits requested by Pilgrim's Pride be approved.

"This is a victory for us," Butler said from his office at the company's headquarters in Pittsburg. "It shows (the permits' applications) are based on sound science ...."

Pilgrim's plans to construct a poultry complex in Camp County near Walker Creek. The complex's poultry processing plant would utilize deep wells, similar to those used by oil companies to dispose of unwanted salt water, to pump (or inject) waste from the poultry processing units into the ground.

But in consideration of the application, the subject of aboveground wastewater storage facilities was approached in August 2000. TCEQ commissioners directed the SOAH judge to require Pilgrim's to submit minor amendments to the application that would detail the handling of the aboveground storage facilities, or lagoons. The permit cites if there is too much recycled water in the lagoons, then it will be injected into the deep wells.

With a few amendments to the application, SOAH's judge has now made the recommendation to approve the permits.

Some of the amendments were "in favor" of Pilgrim's, Butler added on June 4, such as the elimination of a technical test.

Butler said he expects the TCEQ commissioners to approve the permit application within 30 days, but the construction of the processing plant would be "when economic conditions permit" such an endeavor.