Tyson says it has corrected sewage issue

Problems with Tyson Foods' sewage treatment facility at its chicken processing plant in Shelbyville have been corrected, according to company officials.

Last Feburary, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) issued a notice of violation to Tyson Foods' environmental office in Shelbyville, stating that the plant's sewage treatment facility discharged effluent into the Duck River with levels of ammonia greater than allowed by the plant's permit.

The violations occured during September 2006 through January 2007, TDEC said.

On Wednesday, Mike Ensley, division vice president for Tyson, said that a Dissolved Air Floation system was installed just last week to seperate grease and oil from the water that is discharged into the Duck River.

Ensley said it came on line last Thursday.

"We're ahead of schedule," he said, adding that the company would beat the September 2008 deadline set down by TDEC.

The amount of ammonia in effluent flowing from the plant in January 2007 was almost twice what's allowed.

There have been no further notices of violation from TDEC Ensley said, and added that the state tested the waters of the Duck two weeks ago and gave the poultry firm a compliment over the low levels of ammonia.

"There's no issue there at all," he said of the ammonia levels.

Cost was the reason that Tyson made the decision not to connect to Shelbyville's sewage treatment plant, with Ensley explaining the the financial situation "was just not fessible."

Limits on the discharge of ammonia are set based on water available for the flow of the river, and Paul Davis, director of TDEC's Clean Water Division, said in November that it would take "a lot more" ammonia to make any biological impact.

In response, Tyson has designed additional treatment works and plans to meet new federal guidelines for its wastewater treatment plant, according to Meg Lockhart, deputy communications director for TDEC.

Effluent guidelines set by the federal government for meat and poultry plants' discharge were changed in 2004 to place stricter limits on the number of milligrams of ammonia per liter of effluent. Tyson has already made reductions in water usage over the past three years as well.

Tyson corporate spokesman Gary Mickelson said in November that the company has reduced the volume of treated wastewater it releases into the Duck River by approximately 19 percent.