(RICHMOND, VA)—This week the Virginia State Water Control Board voted to support stiffer penalties for Tyson Foods for repeated wastewater and stormwater violations at a poultry plant in Temperanceville on Virginia's Eastern Shore. The Board levied a final penalty of $30,160 on April 15, compared to an initial proposed penalty of $16,500. Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) Virginia Voices Coordinator Jay Ford issued the following statement.
"It's encouraging to see the Board increase this penalty for repeated and serious water quality violations at the Tyson poultry plant in Temperanceville. We hope this will be a true deterrent to violations like these, which release alarming levels of dangerous bacteria into local creeks.
"We thank the Board and Virginia's Department of Environmental Quality for considering input from CBF and other stakeholders in levying these penalties and developing a compliance action plan designed to prevent future violations."
