MILLSBORO, Del.- Neighbors and environmental advocates say the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and Mountaire Farms' consent decree is a step in the right direction, but want more to be done.
"I'm happy to see something from a regulatory agency," says Maria Payan with the Socially Responsible Agricultural Project. "This consent does absolutely nothing to address the harms and the public health implications that these people have suffered."
Those at Public Justice--one of the firms who filed an intent to sue Mountaire Farms earlier this year--say the decree is a direct result of communities demanding change.Â
"The close attention being paid to Mountaire isnât about to let up; in fact, itâs about to get more intense," says Jessica Culpepper, a Food Project Attorney at Public Justice. "If the company doesnât clean up its act, this newly energized coalition will take action again.â
If the terms of the consent decree are met, the document states Mountaire will be released of "any and all liability of Mountaire to DNREC for its failure in the past." Some who live nearby doubt the terms will be met.
"I don't think anything is really going to change," says Jay Meyer. "They'll continue to do business as they normally have."
In their response to the consent decree, Mountaire Farms notes it is taking extra steps to ease neighbors' concerns, and that to the company's knowledge, it is the only waste spray operation in the state that has agreed to a process for treating high nitrate ground water that will remove double the excess amount.Â
The decree and Mountaire Farms' response can be read in the PDFs below.
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