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PA MINNESOTA PLANT PLEADS GUILTY IN CLEAN WATER ACT CASE

Release Date: 12/20/96
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PA MINNESOTA PLANT PLEADS GUILTY IN CLEAN WATER ACT CASE

FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1996

MINNESOTA PLANT PLEADS GUILTY IN CLEAN WATER ACT CASE

On Dec. 16, Darling International Inc. of Irving, Texas, pleaded guilty to five felony counts of violating the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) for illegally discharging wastewater from treatment ponds and falsifying discharge reports at its Blue Earth rendering plant located in Blue Earth, Minn. The plant turns animal wastes such as fat, blood, feathers, meat and bone into useful products. In addition, Gary Keck, the plant's former wastewater treatment operator, was charged with obstruction of justice, conspiracy and CWA violations. The discharges occurred between October 1991 and October 1992. Darling agreed to pay a total of $3 million in fines and an additional $1 million for a project to improve the Blue Earth River. The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

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