WHATELY — Chang Farm has been slapped with a state fine for violation of water pollution regulations.
Last May, the sprout farm agreed to pay $78,000 to settle a federal lawsuit over similar wastewater discharge permits issues over a span of five years. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court by the Greenfield-based Connecticut River Watershed Council.
In Wednesday’s action, the state Department of Environmental Protection issued a $16,500 penalty against Chang and Son Enterprise Inc. “for violations of wastewater discharge permit limits and other operating requirements at the (River Road) farm’s process water and wastewater treatment plant.”
The sprout farm’s treated wastewater is discharged into the Connecticut River, which is allowed up to a specific limit.
Katherine Skiba, regional spokeswoman for MassDEP, said the farm on River Road exceeded the amount of wastewater it was permitted to discharge.
“Other violations were failing to maintain equipment,” she said, “and they didn’t have certified operators on their staff.”
The penalty is also for faults in monthly reporting and poor monitoring of the wastewater treatment plant by the farm.
During an August 2015 inspection of water quality reports submitted by Chang, as well as an in-person inspection of the farm’s wastewater treatment plant, a news release notes that DEP staff documented “repeated exceedances of permit discharge limits for Biological Oxygen Demand, flow and suspended solids.”
Biological Oxygen Demand refers to the amount of oxygen it takes to break down organic material in water.
“We as a regulating authority review those reports,” Skiba said. “They had an order in 2013, and they met some of them, but not all.”
The farm has a long history of compliance issues, that according to a permit issued in 2013 by the EPA, dates back almost 10 years (another permit was given in 2006).
As part of the penalty, the farm must evaluate its current procedures, come up with a plan to resolve the problems, make sure staff members are properly trained, and update monitoring equipment.
Pending those requirements, the state has agreed to suspend $6,500 of the penalty. Skiba said the suspension was agreed to, at least in part, because the farm will have to pay a significant amount of money in order to meet regulations.
“They have deadlines they have to meet, they have agreed to that,” Skiba said, “and we anticipate they’ll cooperate.”
Neither a representative from the Connecticut River Watershed Council nor Chang Farm could be immediately reached for comment.