Franklin Foods has agreed to pay $265,000 in penalties to settle alleged wastewater violations at the Enosburg Falls dairy and soy processor, Attorney General Charity Clark announced today.
The state regulators found Franklin Foods violated its pretreatment permit on numerous occasions over several years, including releasing untreated liquid waste to the Enosburg Falls wastewater treatment facility, according to an Attorney General’s office press release.
In addition to the $265,000 civil penalty, Franklin Foods has agreed to implement a corrective action plan and revised waste management plan, according to the press release. Franklin Foods has already made progress on corrective actions, according to the Attorney General’s office. Franklin Foods did not formally admit or deny liability.
“I am pleased that Franklin Foods made a commitment to ensure proper treatment of dairy and soy waste products onsite,” Attorney General Charity Clark said in a press release. “Vermonters take pride in our pristine lakes and rivers, and protecting surface waters from contamination is crucial to the health of our environment.”
The Agency of Natural Resources requires Franklin Foods to treat its waste before it can be sent to municipal treatment facilities. The Vermont state environmental regulator found that Franklin Foods violated those requirements between 2015 and 2018, signing an Assurance of Discontinuance with the agency in 2019, according to the Attorney General’s office.
Yet the ANR found that Franklin Foods had again failed to treat its wastewater, finding a host of violations since its 2019 agreement, including failures to perform adequate wastewater sampling and testing, failing to manage pH and phosphorus levels of waste, discharging untreated wastewater, insufficient lab practices, inadequate staffing and failing to update the facility’s waste management plan according to the Attorney General’s office.
“Businesses that generate industrial wastewater have a clear responsibility to manage it properly before it enters our public sewer systems,” Julie Moore, Secretary of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, said in a press release. “This settlement reinforces the importance of strong oversight and timely corrective action to help protect both municipal infrastructure and the health of Vermont’s rivers and streams.”
Franklin Foods has produced cream cheese in Enosburg Falls since 1899, now selling under the Green Mountain Farms and Hahn’s Cream Cheese brands, according to its website.
Representatives from Franklin Foods and its parent company could not be reached for comment.
