D.G. Yuengling and Son has agreed to pay $2.8m in civil penalty to settle the allegation of violating Clean Water Act (CWA) pretreatment discharge limits involving its two large-scale breweries near Pottsville, Pennsylvania.
The company will spend approximately $7m to improve environmental measures at its brewery operations, it said in a consent decree filed in federal court in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
As part of the deal signed with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Department of Justice, Yuengling agreed to implement several environmental programs to reduce and manage the amount of organic materials in the wastewater its two Pottsville area breweries send to the Greater Pottsville Area Sewer Authority for treatment.
US Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division Assistant Attorney General John Cruden said: "It is vital that companies using municipal wastewater treatment facilities strictly follow pretreatment guidelines and permit limits for their wastewater.
"This settlement requires Yuengling to put into place an environmental management system designed to manage compliance with the Clean Water Act in a systemic, planned, and documented manner to establish a top-down, prevention-focused approach.
"The settlement also mandates independent audits of Yuengling's compliance with the consent decree, among other requirements."
As part of this effort, Yuengling invested $8m for the installation of wastewater pretreatment system at its Pottsville brewery.
Installation of the pretreatment system, which was commissioned in March, is one of the environmental programs.
US Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator Shawn Garvin said: "Yuengling is responsible for serious violations of its Clean Water Act pretreatment discharge limits, posing a potential risk to the Schuylkill River which provides drinking water to 1.5 million people.
"This history of violations and failure to fully respond to orders from the Greater Pottsville Area Sewer Authority and EPA to correct the problems resulted in this enforcement action."
