NEW YORK – The US Environmental Protection Agency has settled an administrative case against Newburg Egg Processing Corporation of Woodridge for allegedly failing to meet standards in the wastewater it treats and sends to a wastewater treatment plant.
The alleged failures by the company led to excessive nitrogen and ammonia pollution that passed through the wastewater treatment plant and into Sandburg Creek in Woodridge.
The company will pay a penalty of $100,000 for not meeting the pollution limits and has already taken steps to address the cause of the violations.
As an industrial source, the company must first treat its waste stream – a process called pre-treatment – before discharging it to the municipal wastewater treatment plant.
That pre-treatment prevents excessive pollution levels, which can interfere with the effectiveness of the wastewater treatment plant.
In the case of Newburg Egg, the pollution levels discharged caused the Woodridge treatment plant to exceed pollution limits set by the state permit.
As a result of those violations, excessive amounts of nitrogen, ammonia, phosphorus and other materials discharged into Sandburg Creek between 2018 to June 2021.
To prevent that from happening again, Newburg Egg has added capacity to hold their wastewater and properly pretreat it before discharging to the Woodridge treatment plant.
The company also agreed to install a new polymer mix and feed system to provide better treatment to remove contaminants like nitrogen, ammonia and phosphor at its pretreatment plant.
