An Exeter Township poultry-processing plant was sentenced Wednesday to two years of probation and fined $20,000 for discharging waste into a tributary of the Schuylkill River.
Mehadrin Kosher Poultry pleaded no contest before Judge Stephen B. Lieberman to violating the state’s Solid Waste Management Act and Clean Streams Law from August to October 2008.
Lieberman said the probation will end when the fine is paid.
Deputy Attorney General Steven Portman said the charges were filed in August 2009 based on a report from the state Department of Environmental Protection.
Portman said there have been no recent complaints about the plant in the 1100 block of Lincoln Road.
Mehadrin’s lawyer, James J. West of Harrisburg, said the company has spent $300,000 on improvements and is working with the state and the township to comply with environmental standards.
West said Mehadrin is fixing all the problems that were caused by the previous owners.
The company bought the plant from G&G Poultry in May 2008.
Paul A. Herb, Exeter wastewater plant superintendent, said the township is working with the company to keep it in compliance with the township ordinance.
The township in April sought a court order to prevent the plant from discharging wastewater into the township system.
The township and the company then agreed to a settlement that required the company to pay $95,000 to cover overdue sewer bills, obtain an industrial waste permit and comply with township regulations on the discharge.
The operators of the plant under G&G had been sentenced in county court to probation for violating environmental laws.