Omega Protein to pay $7.5 million to settle wastewater pollution case
In the agreement, Omega Protein pleaded guilty to two violations of the Clean Water Act and agreed to a $5.5 million find and a $2 million payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to fund projects in Virginia related to the protection of the environmental health of the Chesapeake Bay. In addition, the company will be on placed on probation for three years. The plea agreement has been approved by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
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In 2010 Omega Protein had been accused by the EPA of improper procedures in the handling of bail wastewater from its fishing vessels operating in the bay. The company was accused of dumping water that contained high levels of oil and other pollutants. The Coast Guard subsequently decertified two of the company’s eight-vessel fleet that it operates in the bay. Omega Protein spent $3 million to upgrade the vessels and bring them into compliance, according to CEO Bret Scholtes.
"Omega Protein, Inc. is committed to ensuring that we operate in compliance with federal and state environmental requirements. The Company has expended significant resources to strengthen its environmental compliance systems across its operations," Scholtes said. "We are committed to being a responsible corporate citizen and protecting the ocean waters upon which we all rely."
Not its first fine
This is not the company's first run-in with regulators; in September 2012 the company was fined $79,000 by the Occupational Safety and Health Authority in connection with the death of a worker who was mangled in a screw conveyor at the company's processing facility in Moss Point, Mississippi. The company operates fishing fleets in Chesapeake Bay and along the Gulf Coast.
Omega Protein is the largest processor of fish for omega 3 oils based in the US as well as supplying fish meal for aquaculture feed. In addition to omega 3 ingredients, the parent company, Omega Protein Corporation, is becoming an increasingly large player in the human nutrition sphere, with its 2010 acquisition of ingredient supplier Cyvex Nutrition and its acquisition in March of whey protein supplier Wisconsin Specialty Protein.
