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For Immediate Release:  
For Further Information:
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July 23, 2007   

Peter Aseltine
609-292-4791

Office of The Attorney General
- Anne Milgram, Attorney General
Division of Criminal Justice
- Gregory A. Paw, Director

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Owner of Polluting Meat Plant in Newark Indicted on Criminal Charges

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>> View Indictment (203k pdf) plug-in
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TRENTON – Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced that the owner of a Newark meat plant and his companies were indicted today on criminal charges related to the release of contaminated wastewater and foul odors from the plant and their failure to maintain required air pollution equipment.

According to Paw, Seymour Berkowitz, 72, of Allendale, and Berkowitz Fat Company Inc, doing business as American Rendering Corporation and Harry Berkowitz Industries Inc., were indicted today by a state grand jury in a four-count indictment charging them with one count of violation of the state Water Pollution Control Act and three counts of violation of the state Air Pollution Control Act, all third degree crimes.

Third-degree violations of the Water Pollution Control Act carry a sentence of up to five years in state prison and a fine of up to $75,000, while third-degree violations of the Air Pollution Control Act carry a sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000, which can be tripled for the corporate defendants. The charges stem from an investigation by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Division of Criminal Justice –Major Crimes/Environmental section.

“We are criminally prosecuting these defendants because they have defied state environmental laws and shown an utter and complete disregard for the health and well-being of their neighbors in the Ironbound section of Newark,” said Attorney General Milgram. “By working with the DEP to shut down this filthy plant and hold its owner accountable both civilly and criminally, we are sending a strong message that we will not tolerate environmental scofflaws.”

“Even our most seasoned environmental professionals regard the Berkowitz plant as the most vile operation they have ever observed,” DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson said. “From the mountains of rotting meat to the legions of rats and other vermin, this site was awash in putridness. Far and away, it represented one of the most difficult cleanup tasks the DEP has faced in recent memory.”

On June 8, the Attorney General, acting on behalf of the DEP, obtained a court order shutting down the plant for failing to make court-ordered facility improvements and operational changes required to bring the plant into compliance with state environmental laws. The state originally filed suit in May and obtained an order from Superior Court Judge Kenneth S. Levy requiring the rendering facility and its owner to take immediate action to correct certain violations. However, subsequent DEP inspections found almost total non-compliance with the court’s order. Levy’s June 8 order required Berkowitz and his companies to stop accepting new meat waste and halt all meat rendering operations until they demonstrate compliance.

During the past 32 days, DEP staff and contract workers have labored, often in hot, humid conditions, to clean up the property, removing 120 truckloads of decaying meat and contaminated soils and liquids. The amount of protective clothing and related equipment that workers used during the cleanup totaled an additional 10 truckloads. The DEP is seeking to recover cleanup costs and more than $2 million in civil penalties from the defendants.

The indictment charges Berkowitz and his companies with violating the Water Pollution Control Act by purposely, knowingly or recklessly discharging untreated wastewater – highly contaminated with fat, oil and grease – directly into the local sewer system in violation of their permit from the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners. Wastewater from the plant was not pre-treated as required under the permit and was channeled to bypass the required monitoring point.

The indictment further charges the defendants with three counts of violating the Air Pollution Control Act by purposely or knowingly:

    1. operating the plant from Oct. 16, 2006 through May 1, 2007 while one of the plant’s required air pollution control units or “scrubbers” was not working as a result of damage sustained in a fire;
    2. emitting foul odors into the outdoor air over a two-year period that interfered with the quality of life in the surrounding neighborhoods and were strong enough to sicken county and DEP inspectors who visited the site; and
    3. refusing to admit DEP inspectors to the plant on Jan. 29, 2007.

Meat rendering plants typically cook animal materials for use in making tallow, grease, protein meal and/or bone meal. Located on Bay Avenue in the Ironbound section of Newark, the plant processed more than a million pounds of meat waste weekly. The state’s lawsuit charged the facility with being a persistent polluter by rendering meat in cookers with air pollution control equipment that was disconnected or inoperable, and by using grease rather than fuel oil in the facility’s boiler. DEP has conducted numerous plant inspections since 2005, resulting in more than $2 million in pollution-related civil penalties. In addition, pervasive odors from the plant and evidence of rodents have generated many complaints from neighboring residents and business owners. Meat waste was typically brought into the plant by trucks and dumped onto the ground. The meat waste was stored outside and exposed to rain, heat, and vermin.

The indictment is merely an accusation and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

>> View Indictment (203k pdf) plug-in

The case was presented to the state grand jury by Supervising Deputy Attorney General Edward R. Bonanno and Deputy Attorney General Betty Rodriguez of the Division of Criminal Justice – Major Crimes/Environmental section. It was investigated by DEP staff and State Investigator Stephen Coraggio of the Division of Criminal Justice, with assistance from the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners and the Essex Regional Health Commission.

The indictment was handed up to Superior Court Judge Neil H. Shuster in Mercer County. The case was assigned to Superior Court in Essex County where the defendants will be ordered to appear at a later date to be arraigned on the charges.

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