FRANKLIN COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) — Charges were filed Wednesday against a central Pennsylvania company and its owner after a spill that contaminated drinking water in 2021 was never reported.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced the charges were filed against Carlisle-based Jones Manure Hauling, LLP, and owner 43-year-old Jesse Jones in connection with a 2021 spill at the Barr Farm in Greencastle.
The drinking water is still contaminated to this day, Sunday said.
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“This company’s neglect after they knowingly spilled FPR cost neighbors access to clean drinking water — which remains contaminated to this day,” Sunday said.
A hose ruptured on June 30, 2021, while food processing residuals were being transferred from a company truck to a storage pit at the farm. Sunday said Jones did not report the spill to the DEP as required.
Food processing residuals are a combination of organic materials, including waste from slaughtered animals, and can be used as fertilizer.
Neighbors of the farm then soon reported their water smelled like “dead poultry” and “decomposing animals mixed with chicken manure,” Sunday said.
“We recognize and appreciate the many benefits provided through Pennsylvania’s rich history of strong agriculture, but this sort of conduct is unacceptable. Every Pennsylvanian has a basic right to clean water,” Sunday said.
Jones and his company face a felony charge of unlawful conduct under the Clean Streams Act, and misdemeanor charges of prohibitions against discharge of industrial waste, prohibition against pollution, and failure to clean up/notify the Department of Residual Waste, court records show.
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The case was referred to the AG’s Office in 2023.
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