000526 IBP Signs Second Agreement With EPA On Air QualityMay 28, 2000Chicago - IBP Inc. said it had entered into a second agreement with environmental regulators to improve air quality at its Dakota City, Nebraska, beef plant. The company reached a deal with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to file an application with the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality to verify IBP is using the best available technology to control hydrogen sulfide emissions, IBP spokesman Gary Mickelson said. The new agreement will complement one made in late April with the EPA to add nine air monitors near its Dakota City waste water treatment system, in addition to 19 others already in use in the south Sioux City and Dakota City areas. The air monitors will be installed beginning in June, Mickelson said. “We believe that the agreement will verify that we're doing the right thing,” Mickelson said. IBP has also given the federal government enforcement authority over the Dakota City improvement project and agreed to install equipment to reduce sulphur in the water used by the plant. Higher-than-normal sulphur levels are a common in water supplies in that region, the company said. IBP won NDEQ approval earlier this year to begin building three new covered lagoons and other improvements after more than two years of permitting delays. The lagoon project, which has been under construction since March, was expected to be completed by November. In January, the U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit against IBP alleging the Dakota City plant illegally spewed uncontrolled amounts of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide for more than five years. IBP denied the charges and claimed government bureaucracy had held up its anti- pollution efforts. “While the lawsuit is still pending we're hopeful agreements such as this will prove to the government we're serious about our environmental responsibilities and this will lead to constructive settlement discussions,” Mickelson said.
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