-
Fecal coliform violation
Sample was 1,200 colonies, three times the permitted limit. -
DENR warning letter
DENR notes four effluent violations from 2007. -
Ammonia violation
Sample extrapolated to 122 pounds; the limit was 102 pounds. -
Ammonia violation
Sample extrapolated to 161 pounds; the limit wsa 102 pounds. -
Ammonia violation
Sample extrapolated to 250 pounds; the limit was 130 pounds. Plant management said there had been problems with the filtration system. -
Worries about "significant noncompliance"
Environmental manager Steve Dravland worries that violations will put the plant in significant noncompliance with the Environmental Protection Agency. -
Whole Effluent Toxicity test failure
Nitrite toxicity was the suspect in this test failure. -
Effluent pump problems
Trouble with effluent pumps "more severe than origianlly anticipated"; Morrell gets permission to dump to city stormwater system. -
Ammonia violation
Sample extrapolated to 206 pounds; the daily limit was 123 pounds. -
Fecal coliform violation
Morrell notes in its monthly discharge summary that it had a fecal coliform violation sometime in June. (It was June 30.) -
DENR email: Morrell now recovering heparin
Morrell notifies DENR that it has begun extracting the blood-thinner heparin from slaughtered pigs. Thus the plant found itself with a daily need to dispose of 7,000 to 8,000 gallons of the byproduct peptone, which would increase by nearly one-third the load for the wastewater system. At some point, Morrell begins trucking the peptone to Sioux City. -
DENR inspection
DENR staff gave Morrell a 2 out of a possible 5 rating, citing 37 violations. -
Chlorine violation
A dechlorination pump failed, pushing the chlorine sample to 0.22 milligrams/liter — 11 times the permitted limit. -
EPA Inspection
The first of two inspections by the Environmental Protection Agency that later will form the basis for a Justice Department complaint -
Fecal coliform violation
Sample showed 660 colonies per liter; the limit is 400. -
Leaky pipe is possible source of fecal violations
Morrell managers suspect that a leaky pipe is the source of the trouble. Two weeks later, sampling on consecutive days seemed to bear this hypothesis out, showing very low levels of fecal coliform in one part of the system - one-hundredth of the limit - but in another part, levels that were more than 100 times what was allowed. -
Total suspended solids violation
Sample extrapolated to 2,453 pounds; the limit is 2,200 pounds. -
Fecal coliform violation
Sample showed 455 colonies per liter; the limit is 400. -
Chlorine violation
Sample showed .06 milligrams of chlorine per liter; the limit is .05. -
Period: to
Plant breakdown – 21 ammonia violations – DENR recommends enforcement action
High levels of peptone and sluggish waste-eating bacteria drove ammonia levels to three times the allowable limit at one point. The plant racked up 21 ammonia violations and had to lay out steps it was taking to avoid this situation. -
Rotoscreen breaks, overflows
A solids screen broke early that morning and spilled some material onto the snow. Because the area drained back to the waste plant, no spill report was created. -
DENR warning letter
DENR sends Morrell another warning letter listing nine violations from 2008 and 2009. -
Fecal coliform violation
Morrell reports one fecal coliform violation in March. -
EPA follow-up inspection
EPA follows up. Later the agency would hand over the enforcement action to the Justice Department, which filed a complaint Oct. 6, 2011, in U.S. District Court. -
DENR warning letter
DENR sends Morrell another warning letter citing six violations. -
Screen breaks, dumping mass of bloody water, meat scraps, fat into river
A barscreen broke and dumped 1,464 gallons of bloody water, meat scraps and fat into the stormwater drainage system. The cause, according to the spill report: "Equipment failure then operator did not respond." In a follow-up letter, Morrell said the stormwater gates should have been closed. -
Total suspended solids violation
Morrell reported one total suspended solids violation in August. -
Fecal coliform violation
Morrell reported one fecal coliform violation in August. -
DENR warning letter
DENR sends another warning letter citing one violation. -
Fecal coliform violation
Sampling showed 530 colonies per 100 milliliters of water; the limit is 400. "I'm surprised it took this long to report the violation," DENR surface water engineer Kelli Buscher wrote. -
Morrell responds to DENR inspection
In response to an inspection that did not go particularly well, Morrell details the ways it is improving the plant to stay in compliance. -
Fecal coliform violation
Sample showed 530 colonies per 100 milliliters; the limit is 400. -
DENR warning letter
DENR sends a warning letter citing 10 violations. -
DENR warning letter
DENR sends a warning letter citing a fecal coliform violation in February. -
Fecal coliform violation
Sample showed 430 colonies per 100 milliliters of water; the limit is 400. -
Justice Department complaint
Federal prosecutors sue Morrell in U.S. District Court in Sioux Falls for the violations uncovered during the EPA inspection. -
DENR settlement agreement, civil penalty
Morrell agrees to pay a $44,079 penalty for polluting the Big Sioux River and agrees to upgrade its wastewater treatment system. The violation notice cites 58 separate violations.