The U.S. Poultry & Egg Association awarded the 2023 Clean Water Award to Tyson Foods in Russellville, Arkansas, and Wayne-Sanderson Farms in Tyler, Texas. The award is presented annually to poultry facilities that excel in their commitment to treat wastewater to a high standard, identify water reuse opportunities and implement initiatives to advance overall sustainability of the facility. The winners were chosen by a committee of industry engineers and university personnel. Clean Water Award recipients were announced during USPOULTRY’s annual Environmental Management Seminar.

Award recipients were recognized in two categories, full treatment and pretreatment. The full-treatment category encompasses plants that treat wastewater in accordance with an individual National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit that allows the facility to discharge treated effluent into a receiving stream or to a land application system. The pretreatment category includes facilities that discharge partially treated effluent to a publicly owned treatment facility for further treatment. To be eligible for the award, a facility must have a minimum of two years with no notices of violations, any type of regulatory enforcement action or any significant noncompliance occurrence.

Tyson Foods was selected as the winner in the pretreatment category for its further processing facility in Russellville, Arkansas. The facility is a par-fry plant that opened on Dec. 15, 1980, to meet the changing marketplace for value-added, further processed poultry. The wastewater treatment plant treats just under 200,000 gallons of water each day. The city of Russellville’s wastewater effluent specifications are met by treating the wastewater through multiple steps, including flow equalization, screening and dissolved air flotation technology enhanced with chemically aided coagulation and flocculation.

Wayne-Sanderson Farms was selected as the winner in the full-treatment category for its broiler processing facility in Tyler, Texas. With a weekly processing capacity of 1.3 million chickens, the facility provides poultry for the company’s retail business unit by producing tray pack products distributed directly to food retailers in the southwest portion of the United States. On average, approximately 1.4 million gallons of water used each day to process the birds is treated through a full biological system using dissolved air flotation, anaerobic and aerobic treatment technology. Fully treated wastewater is either discharged to the Sabine River or applied to land by way of spray irrigation.

Honorable mention with distinction awards in the full-treatment category were presented to Keystone Foods in Albany, Kentucky, and Tyson Foods in Union City, Tennessee. Tyson Foods in North Little Rock, Arkansas, was recognized with an honorable mention with distinction award in the pretreatment category.

“The applicants for this year’s Clean Water Awards highlight the commitment our industry makes to being good stewards of our environment and the natural resources to which we have been entrusted. Every facility that applied should be commended for demonstrating excellence towards that commitment,” said Jarod Morrison, Farbest Foods Inc., and USPOULTRY chairman. “These awards are the result of continued progress towards efficiency while maintaining a high level of care for the communities in which these facilities operate. Congratulations to this year’s winners.”

Source: U.S. Poultry & Egg Association