Cream cheese producer Franklin Foods will pay the state of Vermont $265,000 in a settlement over allegedly violating pretreated water permitting.
Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark announced the agreed deal with Franklin Foods, based on alleged violation at the company’s dairy and soy processing and production facility in Enosberg Falls. The complaint says the facility released untreated effluent into the Enosburg Falls wastewater treatment plan.
As part of the settlement, Franklin Foods agreed to pay the $265,000 penalty and revise his waste management plan.
“I am pleased that Franklin Foods made a commitment to ensure proper treatment of dairy and soy waste products onsite,” Clark said in a statement on the AG’s website. “Vermonters take pride in our pristine lakes and rivers, and protecting surface waters from contamination is crucial to the health of our environment.”
The cream cheese producer’s issues with the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources date back to alleged violations in 2015 and 2018. Contrary to an agreed prior corrective plan, the agency found that the company again committed numerous pH violations, exceeded phosphorous limits and failed to perform wastewater sampling.
“Businesses that generate industrial wastewater have a clear responsibility to manage it properly before it enters our public sewer systems,” Julie Moore, Secretary of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, stated as part of the attorney general’s report. “This settlement reinforces the importance of strong oversight and timely corrective action to help protect both municipal infrastructure and the health of Vermont’s rivers and streams.”
Franklin Foods produces cream cheese, specialty cheeses and spreads with U.S. productions sites in Vermont and Arizona. The company’s roots date back to the 19th century in Vermont.
German-based Hochland has owned and operated Franklin Foods as a subsidiary since 2017.
