EPA v. LIGHTLIFE

Case summary

On December 1, 2021, Region 1 entered into a consent agreement and final order with Greenleaf Foods, SPC (d/b/a Lightlife Foods) located in Montague, Massachusetts resolving violations of Section 307(d) of the Clean Water Act. Lightlife Foods discharged industrial process wastewaters into the Montague Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) in violation of the federal hydrogen ion concentration (pH) specific prohibition pretreatment standard of 5.0 Standard Units on at least 400 days between September 18, 2019 and August 17, 2021. Pursuant to an Administrative Order that EPA issued in January 2020, Lightlife has installed a wastewater treatment system that is now achieving compliance with the pretreatment regulations. Lightlife has agreed to pay a $252,000 penalty. According to EPA's EJ Screen application, the facility does not have any environmental justice indices over the national 80th percentile. EPA implements the Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program in Massachusetts and has coordinated with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection on this matter.

Defendants (1)

• Lightlife FoodsNamed in complaintNamed in settlement

Facilities (1)

• LIGHTLIFE

  1 LIGHTLIFE WAY, MONTAGUE, MA, 01376

  Registry ID: 110070566451

Statutes cited

• CWA 301/307 — Effluent Limitations - NPDES Toxic & Pretreatment Effluent Standards

Enforcement conclusions (1)

• LIGHTLIFEentered 2021-12-01

  Primary law: CWA

  Federal penalty: $252,000

Timeline (3 milestones)

• 2021-12-01Complaint Filed/Proposed Order
• 2021-12-01Final Order Issued
• 2022-01-11Enforcement Action Data Entered