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.