That’s not kosher!
A poultry slaughterhouse in the upstate Hasidic haven of Kiryas Joel has agreed to shell out $330,000 to the federal government after admitting to illegally dumping chicken fat and other animal waste into the Ramapo River since 2008.
Kiryas Joel Poultry Processing Plant Inc. settled a civil lawsuit accusing it of violating the Clean Water Act on the same day the feds filed the litigation.
The company agreed to pay the hefty fine and be subjected to future fines for repeat offenses after earlier talks in which it learned a lawsuit was coming from the
Manhattan US Attorney’s office and Environmental Protection Agency.
“From disposing of chicken parts and fats directly into storm drains and sewers, to discharging animal waste into Ramapo River tributaries, this poultry processing plant has a long history of violating the Clean Water Act,” EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck said. “This legal agreement and fine will help protect the Ramapo River.”
Kiryas Joel is a village in Monroe, NY, that Joel Teitelbaum, the late Grand Rabbi of Satmars, created in the 1970s.