The Maryland Department of the Environment must reevaluate the water pollution permit it issued to an Eastern Shore poultry rendering plant, a Dorchester County Circuit Court judge has ruled.

In writing the permit, which governs the Darling Ingredients facility’s discharges of pollutants into the Transquaking River, MDE failed to take into account “real-world real-time” data about the ailing river system, wrote Judge William H. Jones in a ruling released Friday.

MDE argued the permit was lawful, and stricter than the prior permit for the facility, which was formerly known as Valley Proteins under prior ownership.

But Jones said in his ruling that the permit was deficient, in part because MDE relied on a computer model with “questionable status within the scientific community” to assess water quality.

“The Department side-steps the application of the data and attempts to reassure the Court that because the Permit is more stringent on its face, this can ensure water quality standards,” Jones’ decision reads. “This assertion is unsupported by the record.”

The agency could choose to rewrite the permit per the court’s ruling, or appeal the decision; its next steps were unclear.“We are reviewing the court’s opinion and order and will respond appropriately,” MDE spokesperson Jay Apperson wrote in a statement Monday.

In another statement, Darling Ingredients spokesperson Jillian Fleming said the company “will respond through the appropriate legal channels.”

Ruling the latest in years of legal wrangling

Over the past several years, the facility in Linkwood, which processes chicken carcasses for use in pet food and other products, has attracted considerable concern from its community.

In 2022, Darling Ingredients agreed to pay the state $1 million to settle pollution lawsuits, which alleged more than 600 days of violations, including excessive discharges of nitrogen and phosphorus.

In excess, these nutrients fuel the growth of algae blooms in waterways, which steal away oxygen that underwater life needs to survive. The Darling facility also agreed to a consent decree requiring corrective actions.

The suit was filed last year by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Dorchester Citizens for Planned Growth, Friends of the Nanticoke River, ShoreRivers and the Wicomico Environmental Trust, all of whom applauded the court’s decision Monday.

“After 10 years of water testing continuing to document dangerous and illegal pollution levels in the Transquaking, we joined with other environmental organizations in asking the Circuit Court to remand the inadequate operating permit for Valley Proteins back to MDE for strengthening,” wrote Fred Pomeroy, president of Dorchester Citizens for Planned Growth.

“We are pleased that the court acted on the strength of our arguments and we look forward to a new era of improving water quality on the river,” he wrote.

The groups expressed frustration that the plant would be allowed, under the permit from MDE, to expand the volume of water it discharges each day if certain conditions were met, despite its history of violations. They had waited about 15 years for the new permit from MDE. A prior permit was repeatedly extended after it expired in 2006.

In his ruling, Jones cited the words of residents, who recounted the Transquaking River’s decline.

The river “was a jewel, really,” one resident said. “The species of birds was incredible, there were yellow perch there, wonderful large mouth bass, slab crappies.”

Another resident said the waters of the river were “crystal clear when we were little and it’s nowhere near that now.” Instead the water is a “nice shade of yuk[sic].”

Other sources, including runoff from nearby agricultural activities, could be contributing to the Transquaking’s woes, Jones acknowledged. But MDE must take that into account when formulating the permit. If other factors are increasing the load of pollutants into the river, the Darling plant might need to follow more stringent guidelines to ensure the river meets water quality standards, Jones wrote.

Jones faulted the agency for delaying a full water quality assessment of the Transquaking and an impounded area called the Higgins Millpond.

“The delayed assessment — no matter how well reasoned and supported initially — has become less acceptable and more unreasonable over time as the water quality continues to worsen with clear detrimental impacts to health and human welfare,” Jones wrote.

Advocates say ‘no river is worth giving up on’

The decision “makes a statement that no river is worth giving up on,” wrote Matt Pluta, the Choptank Riverkeeper.

It also upholds the law, wrote Alan Girard, Maryland advocacy director Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

“The previous permit did not ensure that the river and Higgins Mill Pond are safe for swimming, fishing and wildlife habitat, as mandated by Maryland and federal law,” Girard said.

The judge did uphold two sections of the permit that were flagged by environmental groups. The groups challenged a compliance schedule for construction and upgrades to the facility’s treatment plant, arguing the permit should require immediate compliance. But the court ruled the schedule was lawful.

The groups also wanted the state to place additional requirements on the handling of waste sludge from Darling Ingredients, which (like other similar waste products) is often applied to farm fields as fertilizer.

They wanted to ensure Darling’s sludge couldn’t be placed in locations where it is likely to pollute waterways. But the court ruled that this largely falls under the purview of the Department of Agriculture, and MDE’s permit did enough by requiring “an accounting for all removed substances.”

During last year’s legislative session, lawmakers passed a bill requiring the Department of Agriculture to develop a new permit program specifically for dumping this sludge material, called DAF, on farm fields, after communities in Carroll County and on the Eastern Shore complained of significant odor problems.

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