Lawyers answer residents’ calls for information about Millsboro-area pollution

In the weeks following revelations that a Millsboro-area chicken plant improperly disposed of wastewater and contaminated groundwater supplies, nearby residents repeatedly said they wanted state and Mountaire Farms officials to explain what happened.

Some of the plant's neighbors got bottled water. Some got free water tests. Others got spots on the local news stations.

But they have not gotten many answers.

What information residents have gathered outside of news reports has come from four law firms from Delaware, Maryland and Washington, D.C., that hosted their own meetings to educate residents about the pollution and offer legal representation to those affected.

After meeting with hundreds of potential clients in the last few weeks, lawyers now are investigating the extent of the problem and its potential harm to the health and welfare of neighbors as they build possible lawsuits against the poultry producer.

“This is a case we’re taking very seriously,” said Chase Brockstedt of Lewes-based Baird Mandalas Brockstedt LLC. His firm has joined forces with Baltimore-based Schochor, Federico and Staton P.A. to investigate the problem and pursue a lawsuit, while Wilmington-based Jacobs & Crumplar P.A. is working with D.C.-based Nidel & Nace P.L.L.C. to do the same.

“People have been severely hurt and their property has been damaged, their water has been compromised and that’s what our firm does is try to help people that have been injured by others,” Raeann Warner of Jacobs & Crumplar said.

Mountaire’s processing plant on Del. 24 near Millsboro has been accused of bypassing crucial steps in its wastewater treatment process and spraying highly contaminated effluent on hundreds of acres of farms' fields near homes and businesses.

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control said in a Nov. 2 violation notice that the factory released hundreds of gallons of effluent that contained up to 41 times the permitted levels for nitrates and up to 5,500 times the permitted level for fecal coliform. The notice also states the plant violated other permit requirements and failed to report crucial data about its activities.

Exposure to high levels of nitrates reduces the capability of the blood to carry oxygen to all parts of the body. For some, exposure can lead to decreased blood pressure, cramps, trouble breathing and even death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lawyers said they plan to look for the presence of other contaminants not listed in the violation notice, such as heavy metals, that also can pose health problems.

DNREC officials previously said they are investigating the pollution. So far, no fines or criminal charges have been announced.

Sen. Gerald Hocker, R-Ocean View, said he will address the public at a meeting hosted by Mountaire at the Indian River Senior Center in Millsboro at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Rep. Rich Collins, R-Millsboro, said he knew a meeting was in the works but did not know the specifics when he spoke with The News Journal this week.

A press release sent out on Friday confirmed the meeting, where Mountaire personnel and other experts will be available to answer residents' questions.

"While Mountaire does not believe that the recent wastewater treatment system upset is a significant source of elevated nitrate levels in the area, we feel that as a corporate neighbor with long-standing and excellent relationships in our community, it is the appropriate time to have this meeting with our neighbors," the press release states.

Some nearby residents, like Gary Cuppels, were unaware of any problems at the plant until bottled water mysteriously appeared on their front steps one Friday night in early December along with a note that deliveries would continue for the foreseeable future.

“It was a very long weekend because we had no idea what was going on,” said Cuppels, who lives in a waterfront retirement home on the Indian River with his wife of 50 years. “We’ve lived here for 20 years and never had any kind of water issues, and then out of the clear blue sky, our world basically collapsed. To have a habitable home, you have to have drinking water."

Cuppels said he called DNREC as soon as he could – the following Monday morning – to find out what was going on. Since then, he said, he has not heard anything else from state or company officials.

“Once we lawyered up, we don’t talk to anybody,” he said.

Cuppels signed on with Brockstedt’s firm in early December, shortly after his gastrointestinal problems, which had stumped his doctors, vanished three days after drinking bottled water instead of tap water, he said.

“The two of us, we’re shell-shocked,” the 71-year-old said. “We’re shocked with what occurred and that this thing started the first of December, here we are in the second week of January and nothing much is happening.”

Cupples is one of nearly 100 people who have already signed waivers with Brockstedt’s firm, while at least 30 others have signed on with Jacobs & Crumplar. 

Both firms said they expect more people to sign on in the coming weeks.

RELATED:Millsboro neighbors: How long have we been drinking tainted water?

Lawyers are questioning whether health impacts like Cuppels’ gastrointestinal illnesses could be related to Mountaire’s wastewater problems. They also are reviewing the full extent of the pollution and its potential impact on property values, which has brought stress to lifelong Sussex Countian Barry Rogers.

“If lawyers are telling us our property value is 30 percent of what it was, then Mountaire needs to take care of the people,” he said. Rogers, who has lived on Walt Carmean Lane for his entire life, said he is planning a family meeting to pick a law firm.

More than 35 acres on Walt Carmean Lane off Del. 24 has been in Rogers’ family since his grandparents received the land as a wedding gift in the 1920s. Now the property belongs to Rogers, his six surviving siblings and their children.

“We pretty much own all this land in the area, and we’re not sure if it’s worth anything now,” the 64-year-old said. “I don’t know what to do. A lot of people don’t know what to do. Just getting a lawyer is not the point. Making this right is.”

Rogers said he never had any issues with the plant until now. When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency stepped in in 2003 because of groundwater contamination problems attributed to Mountaire’s wastewater disposal, he thought the issues were under control.

Now that he knows about the new violations, he is questioning whether family miscarriages and neighbors’ pet deaths could be related to a long-standing problem.

“It’s really a mess,” he said. “We just want them to fix this. And fixing it is not just drilling a well and getting a system and having to pay for the chemicals for the rest of my life.”

RELATED:Poisoned wells found near Sussex chicken plant

In mid-December, Mountaire issued a press release stating it would offer 88 residents new, deeper wells, an offer that company spokesman Sean McKeon said still stands despite the involvement of lawyers. He said company officials are figuring out which neighbors are interested in the offer.

“We’ve had a lot of people call back and express interest,” he said, adding that he estimates up to two dozen people are interested in having new wells dug. “That’s all we’ve asked them to do at this point. There’s more to do to find out how the process will move forward.”

McKeon said on Wednesday that Mountaire is working closely with DNREC to address the problems and is discussing holding a public meeting.

DNREC has not responded to requests for an update on the pollution or whether environmental regulators are planning a public meeting.

At a December board meeting at the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays, one state official said the plant continues to discharge wastewater with nitrate levels above what is legally permitted but is working to come back into compliance.

Mountaire is working with Tidewater Utilities Inc. to address the immediate problems with wastewater operations, said Tidewater President Gerard Esposito.

“We’ve had a kind of standby relationships with Mountaire over the years,” Esposito said, noting that when the violations were found and Mountaire fired its wastewater operators, the plant was left short-staffed.

Tidewater now has what Esposito called a “supplemental operations contract” with three Tidewater wastewater experts supporting Mountaire’s staff.

“They’re still the responsible charge operator,” he said. Tidewater employees offer technical advice and assist with daily operations, while also helping Mountaire “get through some of the compliance issues,” he said.

“I can tell you since we’ve taken over, things have gotten better,” he said. “I think this can be fixed and remedied.”

Esposito also said because portions of Sussex County are known to have historically high levels of nitrates in the groundwater, it may be difficult to say whether contamination found in dozens of private wells around the plant is directly linked to Mountaire.

RELATED:Millsboro-area neighbors don't trust Mountaire to clean their water

But a lack of direct communication from state regulators and the company now under investigation is frustrating residents who have had to rely on lawyers and the news to find out what is going on in their own backyards.

“We the people that have lived here all of our lives would like Mountaire to have a meeting and tell us what is going on and not make us hear it from second-hand because that’s when things get bad,” Rogers said. “That’s what everybody wants. They’re tired of being put off. They’re tired of being told nothing.”

Contact reporter Maddy Lauria at (302) 345-0608, mlauria@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @MaddyinMilford.