UPDATE: Accidental wastewater cleanup complete at Millsboro Mountaire facility

2/15 UPDATE: Mountaire Farms of Delaware is reporting that the company’s cleanup of the accidental wastewater release that occurred earlier this week has been completed.

DNREC Groundwater Discharges Section staff verified the status of cleanup efforts onsite today. Cleanup efforts included 24-hour pumping of the discharged wastewater back into the treatment system for retreatment, scraping of soils in the area where the release occurred to remove any potential solids, liming of the ground surface, repair of the mechanical component that the company reports led to the accidental release, and complete inspection of the system.

DNREC is also requiring Mountaire to conduct enhanced groundwater monitoring to determine if any potential impacts to groundwater have occurred since the discovery of the release.

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DOVER, Del. – The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) says that partially treated wastewater was accidentally released at the Mountaire Farms poultry processing facility in Millsboro.

We’re told that Mountaire Farms reported that the spill was discovered at around 5 AM Wednesday, and says that between 750,000 and 1 million gallons were discharged to the ground surface at the facility.

Mountaire says that the release was caused by a mechanical failure of a wastewater system component. The spill was reportedly contained onsite and none of it was discharged into Swann Creek.

DNREC has directed Mountaire Farms to clean up this spill, and says cleanup efforts are currently underway.

The incident remains under investigation.