TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw
announced that the owner of a Newark meat
plant and his companies were indicted today
on criminal charges related to the release
of contaminated wastewater and foul odors
from the plant and their failure to maintain
required air pollution equipment.
According
to Paw, Seymour Berkowitz, 72, of Allendale,
and Berkowitz Fat Company Inc, doing business
as American Rendering Corporation and Harry
Berkowitz Industries Inc., were indicted
today by a state grand jury in a four-count
indictment charging them with one count
of violation of the state Water Pollution
Control Act and three counts of violation
of the state Air Pollution Control Act,
all third degree crimes.
Third-degree
violations of the Water Pollution Control
Act carry a sentence of up to five years
in state prison and a fine of up to $75,000,
while third-degree violations of the Air
Pollution Control Act carry a sentence of
up to five years in prison and a fine of
up to $15,000, which can be tripled for
the corporate defendants. The charges stem
from an investigation by the state Department
of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the
Division of Criminal Justice –Major
Crimes/Environmental section.
“We
are criminally prosecuting these defendants
because they have defied state environmental
laws and shown an utter and complete disregard
for the health and well-being of their neighbors
in the Ironbound section of Newark,”
said Attorney General Milgram. “By
working with the DEP to shut down this filthy
plant and hold its owner accountable both
civilly and criminally, we are sending a
strong message that we will not tolerate
environmental scofflaws.”
“Even
our most seasoned environmental professionals
regard the Berkowitz plant as the most vile
operation they have ever observed,”
DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson said. “From
the mountains of rotting meat to the legions
of rats and other vermin, this site was
awash in putridness. Far and away, it represented
one of the most difficult cleanup tasks
the DEP has faced in recent memory.”
On
June 8, the Attorney General, acting on
behalf of the DEP, obtained a court order
shutting down the plant for failing to make
court-ordered facility improvements and
operational changes required to bring the
plant into compliance with state environmental
laws. The state originally filed suit in
May and obtained an order from Superior
Court Judge Kenneth S. Levy requiring the
rendering facility and its owner to take
immediate action to correct certain violations.
However, subsequent DEP inspections found
almost total non-compliance with the court’s
order. Levy’s June 8 order required
Berkowitz and his companies to stop accepting
new meat waste and halt all meat rendering
operations until they demonstrate compliance.
During
the past 32 days, DEP staff and contract
workers have labored, often in hot, humid
conditions, to clean up the property, removing
120 truckloads of decaying meat and contaminated
soils and liquids. The amount of protective
clothing and related equipment that workers
used during the cleanup totaled an additional
10 truckloads. The DEP is seeking to recover
cleanup costs and more than $2 million in
civil penalties from the defendants.
The
indictment charges Berkowitz and his companies
with violating the Water Pollution Control
Act by purposely, knowingly or recklessly
discharging untreated wastewater –
highly contaminated with fat, oil and grease
– directly into the local sewer system
in violation of their permit from the Passaic
Valley Sewerage Commissioners. Wastewater
from the plant was not pre-treated as required
under the permit and was channeled to bypass
the required monitoring point.
The
indictment further charges the defendants
with three counts of violating the Air Pollution
Control Act by purposely or knowingly:
-
operating the plant from Oct. 16, 2006
through May 1, 2007 while one of the
plant’s required air pollution
control units or “scrubbers”
was not working as a result of damage
sustained in a fire;
-
emitting foul odors into the outdoor
air over a two-year period that interfered
with the quality of life in the surrounding
neighborhoods and were strong enough
to sicken county and DEP inspectors
who visited the site; and
-
refusing to admit DEP inspectors to
the plant on Jan. 29, 2007.
Meat
rendering plants typically cook animal materials
for use in making tallow, grease, protein
meal and/or bone meal. Located on Bay Avenue
in the Ironbound section of Newark, the
plant processed more than a million pounds
of meat waste weekly. The state’s
lawsuit charged the facility with being
a persistent polluter by rendering meat
in cookers with air pollution control equipment
that was disconnected or inoperable, and
by using grease rather than fuel oil in
the facility’s boiler. DEP has conducted
numerous plant inspections since 2005, resulting
in more than $2 million in pollution-related
civil penalties. In addition, pervasive
odors from the plant and evidence of rodents
have generated many complaints from neighboring
residents and business owners. Meat waste
was typically brought into the plant by
trucks and dumped onto the ground. The meat
waste was stored outside and exposed to
rain, heat, and vermin.
The
indictment is merely an accusation and the
defendants are presumed innocent until proven
guilty.
>>
View
Indictment (203k pdf)
plug-in
The
case was presented to the state grand jury
by Supervising Deputy Attorney General Edward
R. Bonanno and Deputy Attorney General Betty
Rodriguez of the Division of Criminal Justice
– Major Crimes/Environmental section.
It was investigated by DEP staff and State
Investigator Stephen Coraggio of the Division
of Criminal Justice, with assistance from
the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners
and the Essex Regional Health Commission.
The
indictment was handed up to Superior Court
Judge Neil H. Shuster in Mercer County.
The case was assigned to Superior Court
in Essex County where the defendants will
be ordered to appear at a later date to
be arraigned on the charges.
#
# #
|