SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (SDNW) -- Water quality advocates say the state of South Dakota acted prematurely in reporting last week that human health was not at risk from high ammonia releases at the Smithfield Foods plant in Sioux Falls.
The limited public notice was filed before the violations stopped and before the ammonia releases had reached their peak. A wastewater treatment system failure at Smithfield’s pork processing plant in Sioux Falls last week led to a nearly weeklong release of exceedingly high levels of ammonia into the Big Sioux River.
At one point the levels were more than 21 times higher than the daily limit. State DENR officials issued a statement on the release on Friday, saying there would be no risk to humans, though fish in the river could be threatened.
The ammonia releases, well over the permitted amount, began on Wednesday, Aug. 15 and continued until Monday, Aug. 20.
The plant that processes 20,000 hogs per day released more ammonia in a 4-day period than would be allowable in a more than 5-month period. The highest ammonia release came on Saturday, Aug. 18 when 2,199 pounds of ammonia were released; the single-day limit in the plant’s permit allows 102 pounds of ammonia to be released, and the daily average over a month is capped at 58 pounds per day.
Water quality advocates are angry not only over the high levels of ammonia released in such an extended period of time but also the state’s response and the public announcement about the violations.
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(Bart Pfankuch, South Dakota News Watch, contributed this report.)