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Australian food company Primo Foods will fork out $150,000 after thousands of litres of wastewater from its Western Sydney processing plant allegedly polluted a nearby river.
The company, whose ham and bacon products are ubiquitous on Australian supermarket shelves, reached the agreement with the NSW Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today in an enforceable undertaking.
An enforceable undertaking is a voluntary but legally enforceable agreement enforced by the Land and Environment Court.
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Primo reported the pollution after a blocked waste drain on its site led to between 1000 and 5000 litres of contaminated wastewater escaping from a stormwater drain and flowing into the Cooks Rivers on November 8 last year.
The $150,000 in funds will go towards Canterbury-Bankstown Council projects aimed at improving the water quality of the Cooks River, including a litter project and a Coastal Management Program.
EPA Director of Operations Adam Gilligan said companies must be held to account for environmental incidents, even if they are unintentional.
"While Primo undertook clean-up efforts to remove water polluted with animal products from the river and accepts full responsibility, the EPA is concerned that the incident could have been avoided," Gilligan said.
"We are pleased the company has now taken proactive measures to prevent further harm to the local ecosystem, such as installing a new monitoring system including an alarm and increasing the frequency of jet blasting of all trade waste drains, from once a year to twice a year."
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Primo also agreed to pay the EPA's legal and investigative costs amounting to $46,620.
The company will also replace two penstock valves to control the flow of contaminated water on the premises at an estimated cost of $190,000.
