The Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality (“MCEQ”) and USA Yeast Company LLC (“YC”) entered into an July 6th Agreed Order (“AO”) addressing alleged violations of a Clean Water Act Pretreatment Permit. See Order No. 7728 26.
The AO provides that in 2023, YC and the City of Hattiesburg, Mississippi entered into an agreement relating to the treatment of the facility’s industrial effluent discharged to Hattiesburg Sanitary Sewer System.
The agreement is stated to have included a provision that the YC facility’s effluent load concentrations would not exceed 10,000 pound per day daily maximum of five-day Biochemical Oxygen Demand (“BOD”) and 8,000 pounds per day monthly average of BOD, and 6,000 pounds per daily maximum of Total Suspended Solids (“TSS”) and 3,000 pounds per day monthly average of TSS from the effective date of the agreement until the date three years from the effective date (the interim limits).
The agreement is also stated to have provided that beginning on the date three years from the effective date, that YC agreed that its effluent load concentrations would not exceed 4,504 pounds per day daily maximum of five-day BOD and 3,002 pounds per day monthly average of BOD, and 2,250 pound per day daily maximum of TSS and 1,500 pounds per day monthly average of TSS (the final limits).
The Mississippi Environmental Quality Permit Board is stated to have issued a State Operating Pretreatment Permit to YC. This Permit is stated to have included interim limits from the agreement with the City along with final limits.
MCEQ alleges violations including:
- Violation of the minimum pH discharge limitation.
- Violation of the maximum pH discharge limitation.
- Violation of the Phase I BOD discharge limitation.
- Violation of the Phase I TSS discharge limitation.
- Discharge of molasses contaminated stormwater into waters of the state.
- Failure to obtain coverage under the Industrial Stormwater General Permit for Industrial Activities.
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (“MDEQ”) is stated to have received an Industrial Stormwater Notice of Intent and Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan on August 8, 2025. A Certificate of Permit Coverage was issued.
YC is stated to have submitted on December 12, 2025, to MDEQ a plan to achieve compliance with the discharge limitations required by the Pretreatment Permit, describing certain measures that would be undertaken.
The facility is stated to have demonstrated compliance with the pH, the Phase I BOD, and the Phase I TSS limitations required by the Permit for the monitoring periods of December 2025 through through March 2026. Further, YC and the City of Hattiesburg are stated to have amended the agreement along with a request to MDEQ to modify the Pretreatment Permit to reflect the amended agreement.
The AO assesses a civil penalty of $122,500. Further, certain actions are required to be undertaken by YC pursuant to a timeline.
A copy of the CAO can be found here.
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