By Catherine M. Welch
Wilmington, NC – The Smithfield Packaging Company in Tar Heel has been reissued a permit that comes with stricter requirements.
The Division of Water Quality says the approved permit requires Smithfield to comply with new Environmental Protection Agency standards that call for upgrades to the wastewater treatment process as a way to cut the amount of discharged nitrogen and ammonia.
Smithfield's permit allows its treatment facility to process 3-million gallons of wastewater a day.
Smithfield's Tar Heel plant is the world's largest hog processing plant.
The Division of Water Quality says the plant is permitted to slaughter nearly 9.5 million hogs a year that's up by one million hogs.