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Agri Star sends 250K gallons of meat processing wastewater to Postville treatment plant, some enters creek
A blocked sewer line flooded a pump station at the kosher meatpacking plant
Erin Jordan
Mar. 13, 2024 3:14 pm, Updated: Mar. 14, 2024 7:46 am
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is considering citing a kosher beef and poultry processor in Postville after the company last week sent more than 250,000 gallons of untreated food processing waste into the city’s sewer system.
Wastewater, including blood from Agri Star’s beef processing facility, went into Williams Creek before Postville city staff discovered the problem, diverted the waste into a holding tank and alerted Agri Star.
“The city caught it early and were able to isolate it,” said Shane Dodge, supervisor of the Iowa DNR’s Manchester field office. “Any action we would take would likely be against the industrial user. We have rules that prevent them from sending effluent that would cause an upset to (the city’s) plant.”
Postville city staff noticed an unusual “cleaning product” smell in the water treatment plant March 2 and 3 and a sample of water coming into the plant March 4 was a dark red color, according to a report Postville sent the state this week. City staff also saw red-tinted water in Williams Creek, a tributary to the Yellow River.
“Agri Star staff were contacted almost immediately and both the head of maintenance and the industrial wastewater plant operator stated they were unaware of any issues within their system that would be contributing process waste to The City system,” Postville reported to the Iowa DNR.
About an hour later, Agri Star officials told Postville officials they discovered they had a blocked sewer line leading from the beef kill facility to Agri Star’s own industrial treatment plant, and the basement was flooded. The basement is where the plant has a lift station that pumps some wastewater — from offices and restrooms — to the city. The rest of Agri Star’s waste is supposed to be treated at the company’s industrial plant.
As Agri Star worked to fix the problem, processing waste continued to flow to the city at a rate of 148 to 164 gallons per minute, Postville reported.
“At no time did they appear to cease or limit production,” the city told the Iowa DNR. “Based on plant influent meter trending, it appears that over 250,000 gallons of untreated industrial waste entered the City’s domestic sewer treatment plant between 3/4 and 3/5/2024.”
Postville diverted treated water away from Williams Creek from March 4 to March 7, when the water had just faint pink tints and ammonia levels were back in normal range, the city reported. The city expects full recovery at the plant will take a month and will require additional costs for labor, power, lab testing and sludge hauling.
“The fact that it appears it took Agri Star at least 2 days to realize, and did not report until prompted by the City that they had a severe blockage that was discharging to the City system is alarming,” Postville officials told the state in the report.
The city recommends Agri Star be required to install a transmitter at the meter site to monitor the flow, with alarms to city staff when flows exceed normal levels. Postville also wants the company to verify places in the plant where domestic and industrial waste streams could converge and train staff how to quickly report and repair blockages.
Postville and Agri Star did not immediately return messages Wednesday seeking comment.
Agri Star processes beef and poultry according to a dietary standard called kashrut, which dictates what some Jewish people may eat and how foods must be prepared. The company has a staff of rabbis and ritual supervisors who ensure products meet requirements for kosher certification, the company’s website says.
Agri Star opened in 2009 at the site of the former Agriprocessors Inc. Canadian business owner Hershey Friedman bought the plant and invested $7.5 million to modernize and upgrade before reopening, The Gazette reported in 2010, two years after a massive immigration raid at Agriprocessors.
Friedman told Forward.com in 2016 the facility was processing about 50,000 birds a day, primarily chickens. He said the plant can slaughter 400 cattle in a day, but often processed fewer because it was looking for quality beef from within a 100-mile radius.
Comments: (319) 339-3157; erin.jordan@thegazette.com