Meatpacker to clean effluent at big Colo. plant

Meatpacking giant Cargill on Tuesday announced plans to improve the quality of water discharged from its beef processing facility in Colorado. The project, which will cost an estimated $6 million, will "address the discharge of total inorganic nitrogen and phosphorous into the South Platte River at a plant that processes about 1.2 million head of cattle annually," Chris Scott of MeatingPlace reports. "The project will also provide improved biogas production, capture and use from organic materials in the facility’s wastewater."

Cargill plans to begin work in mid-2011 and hopes to complete the project by the third quarter of 2012. The company said "The project is part of a continuing water quality upgrade initiative at the Fort Morgan plant, which has already reduced nitrate discharge into local waterways by 70 percent between 2005 and 2009," Scott writes. (Read more, subscription required)