Denver slaughterhouse Awesome Farms agreed to pay $119,200 agreement to the U.S. Environmental Coverage Company, in line with courtroom paperwork filed final week, after the company recognized issues of how the corporate controlled a poisonous chemical.
In January 2020, the EPA recognized a number of problems with Awesome Farms’ refrigeration programs that the company stated violated the federal Blank Air Act, in line with a press free up and the agreement settlement, which was once filed Sept. 18. Below the phrases of the deal, Awesome Farms pays the $119,200 civil penalty whilst additionally spending $250,000 to improve apparatus past what is needed via legislation.
The corporate didn’t admit to the EPA’s allegations as a part of the agreement. In a press free up saying the agreement, the EPA stated it discovered problems associated with Awesome Farms’ “control of anhydrous ammonia, a chemical used as a refrigerant that may be hazardous to human well being if now not controlled correctly.”
“I’m satisfied that Awesome Farms is imposing important protection measures to give protection to employees and the neighborhood,” EPA regional administrator KC Becker stated in a press free up. “This agreement will get advantages the encompassing neighborhood via fighting unhealthy chemical injuries.”
In a remark, Awesome Farms stated it voluntarily agreed to the agreement, and Vice President of Operations Greg Ahart stated the corporate was once “excited to take this subsequent step to make sure we proceed to exceed meals high quality requirements and give you the most secure surroundings for our employee-owners.”
Primarily based in north Denver, Awesome Farms is town’s handiest slaughterhouse, and animal-rights activists are backing a November poll measure that may ban Awesome Farms and every other long run amenities from working within the town.
“This high-quality is solely the most recent evidence that Awesome Farms can’t be relied on as a accountable steward of our environment,” Olivia Hammond, the spokeswoman for Professional-Animal Denver, which is supporting the poll measure, stated in a remark. “Awesome Farms has a years-long report of recklessly violating federal regulations, endangering the encompassing neighborhood and harming employees and animals.”
Ian Silverii, the spokesman for the marketing campaign opposing Professional-Animal Denver and its poll measure, blasted the crowd in a separate remark Thursday.
“Unsurprisingly, even supposing the EPA praises Awesome Farms for ‘going past what is needed via code,’ Professional Animal Long run ignores the info as a result of they’re going to say the rest and do the rest to move its ban on a unmarried employee-owned industry that has been working in Denver for 70 years,” Silverii wrote.
In line with the agreement settlement, EPA investigators discovered a number of problems associated with Awesome Farm’s refrigeration gadget. The ones problems incorporated flawed garage of flammable or flamable fabrics like cardboard bins; a loss of emergency shut-off and air flow controls; lacking labels; and absent ammonia alarms and detectors.
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