Executives with Smithfield Foods stood along the Pagan River on Tuesday and remarked how times have changed since 1997 when they faced the largest water pollution fine ever levied against a Virginia company.
SMITHFIELD, Va. — Executives with Smithfield Foods stood along the Pagan River on Tuesday and remarked how times have changed since 1997 when they faced the largest water pollution fine ever levied against a Virginia company.
State environmental officials presented eight Smithfield Foods facilities with awards for voluntary pollution prevention during a luncheon on the deck of the company's headquarters in Smithfield. The Pagan River passes by the office building as well as two meat packing plants.
C. Larry Pope, the company's president and chief operating officer, referred to the Pagan River as a memorial to past environmental trouble. Eight years ago, Smithfield Foods was hit with a $12.6 million fine for violating water pollution laws. "Those are past times," Pope said. "This is the future."
Robert Burnley, director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, congratulated the company for receiving "Exemplary Environmental Enterprise" status, which offers businesses lower permit fees for programs such as water conservation, manure handling and waste treatment systems.
Other organizations that have received "E3" status include Lockheed Martin, International Paper and NASA Langley Research Center.
"What this means is Smithfield has made a decision to go beyond all the federal and state environmental regulations," Burnley said about the awards.
The award-winning measures include Smithfield retrofitting its fleet of more than 400 trucks with devices that decrease engine idling times by nearly nine hours a day, which reduces pollution while cutting fuel costs.
Dennis Treacy, company vice president for environmental, community and government affairs, said it was good to celebrate with state regulators.
"In the past when the DEQ showed up, we wondered what was going on," Treacy said. "But today, we're glad to have you."
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Source: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
