Executive Summary

Report

Feedlot Dust
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Koch
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Pilgrims Pride
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Smith Farms
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Sustainable Livestock
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Antibiotic Resistance
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Vertical Integration
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Natural Meat
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Organic Meat
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Recommendations 

Smith Farms, Inc., is a large egg-layer poultry CAFO that has operated in Flatonia, Texas for several decades. In 1984 Smith Farms proposed a plan to the Texas Department of Water Resources (an agency which later became part of the Texas Water Commission and then the TNRCC) to house up to 228,000 laying hens in six buildings and utilize a liquid (lagoon) waste system. (1) Under departmental policy at that time, such facilities required no formal approval or permit to operate and Smith Farms was advised to continue with their plan. (2)

However, when Smith Farms proposed an expansion of their facilities in 1987, the agency notified the CAFO that regulatory changes now required the company to apply for a permit. The agency asked Smith Farms to submit an application and also provided a copy of the rules, a permit application, and other informational materials to the company. (3)

The agency did not follow-up its request until May 1989, when the Texas Water Commission (TWC) conducted an inspection of Smith Farms in response to a citizen complaint about a discharge from the lagoon. (4) TWC sent another copy of the rules to Smith Farms and gave the CAFO a deadline of October 1, 1989 to submit the application. (5) Smith Farms did not reply.

The agency did not take action on the delinquent permit until four years later, on March 2, 1993, when it investigated yet another illegal discharge complaint. Inspectors found the facility in violation of regulations, discharging excess waste into a second unlined pond which was overflowing manure waste onto neighboring property. (6) The TWC issued a Notice of Violation to Smith Farms on May 3, 1993 and requested that corrective action be taken, as well as a permit application be filed, by June 4, 1993. (7)

Smith Farms did not honor that date to make a formal written response. Instead representatives from Smith Farms and the TWC met on June 24, 1993. During the meeting Smith Farms promised to correct the violations, however the company argued that it was not required to obtain a permit because of its exemption from permitting under the 1984 rules. It requested that the permit requirement be rescinded in lieu of a Waste Management Plan which the company promised to submit by October 1, 1993. (8)

Smith Farms did not keep its promise and the Plan was never submitted. The agency did not act again until April 1994, when TNRCC (having replaced TWC as the regulatory agency) revisited Smith Farms. Inspectors noted illegal waste discharges off-site, a pile of improperly disposed dead chickens on the property, and offensive odors. (9) The same month, TNRCC investigated another complaint at the facility and discovered illegal discharges onto adjacent property as well as noxious odors. (10)

On June 1, 1994, a request for enforcement action was made against Smith Farms. The enforcement action request cited three major violations and detailed Smith Farms' history of non-compliance. However, the formal enforcement order was not issued until May 12, 1995-almost a full year later. (11) After operating illegally for almost a decade, Smith Farms finally agreed to apply for its first permit and paid a $10,000 fine for water quality violations to the TNRCC. (12)

Although this outcome satisfied the TNRCC, the Texas Department of Health sent a letter to TNRCC during the public comment period for the permit application, warning of the outstanding health-related issues to the operation of Smith Farms. (13) Community members from Flatonia also filed their concerns with the TNRCC.

The Commission replied to both the Texas Department of Health and the citizens that their comments had not demonstrated "technical merit" and that the Smith Farms permit application met all the requirements for issuance. (14) Unknown to the public, however, was that TNRCC facilitated the approval of the permit despite the fact that Smith Farms had submitted an incomplete application.

According to TNRCC documents, Smith Farms "failed to submit the minimum information required for processing under the new rules" (Subchapter K). (15) But rather than return the application as incomplete, the agency "decided.we will process [the application] under the old rules which allow for a longer period of time for review as well as allows more flexibility on the part of the applicant documentation." (16) On November 1, 1996, TNRCC authorized the air and water quality permit for Smith Farms. (17)

NOTES

1 Letter to Texas Department of Water Resources from Bryan Berger, Smith Farms, Inc., February 15, 1984.

2 Letter to Bryan Berger, Smith Farms, Inc., from Texas Department of Water Resources, February 27, 1984.

3 Letter to Bryan Berger, Smith Farms, Inc,. from Texas Water Commission, August 26, 1987.

4 Letter to Bryan Berger, Smith Farms, Inc., from Texas Water Commission, August 21, 1989.

5 Ibid.

6 Texas Water Commission, Investigation Report EF# 930300736, Smith Farms, Inc., March 2, 1993.

7 Ibid. (1993); Letter to Bryan Berger, Smith Farms, Inc., from Texas Water Commission, re: Complaints concerning egg laying facility, May 3, 1993.

8 Texas Water Commission, Enforcement Action Request Memo re: Smith Farms, Inc., to Mark McFarland, Manger, Permitting and Enforcement Section, Agricultural & Rural Assistance Division, June 1, 1994; Vernon D. Rowe, Rowe Environmental, letter to Diana L. Bell, TWC, re: Smith Farms, Inc., June 24, 1993.

9 Texas Water Commission, Enforcement Action Request Memo re: Smith Farms, Inc., to Mark McFarland, Manger, Permitting and Enforcement Section, Agricultural & Rural Assistance Division, June 1, 1994 (including Picture Set #2).

10 TNRCC, Investigation Report EF#940600505, Smith Farms, Inc., April 28, 1994.

11 Letter to Bryan Berger, Smith Farms, Inc., from TNRCC, September 20, 1995.

12 TNRCC, Deposit User Report, Deposit Voucher #: 401737, September 5, 1995.

13 Letter to TNRCC from Elias Briseno, Texas Department of Health, re: Air and Water Permit-By-Rule for Smith Farms, Inc., July 23, 1996.

14 Letter to Elias Briseno, Texas Department of Public Health, from TNRCC, re: Smith Farms, Inc., Application for Permit-By-Rule No. 03866, September 27, 1996.

15 Interoffice Memorandum to Kerry Howard, TNRCC Agriculture Permitting Team, from Desiderio Mora, Permitting Team Leader, re: Smith Farms Processing Under Subchapter B, September 20, 1995.

16 Ibid.

17 TNRCC, Air and Water Quality Permit-By-Rule to Operate A Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation, Smith Farms, Inc., Permit No. 03866, November 1, 1996.