Maryland Department of the Environment, Maryland Office of the Attorney General File Lawsuit Against Fleischmann’s Vinegar Facility in Baltimore for Alleged Violation of Maryland’s Water Pollution Laws

Maryland Department of the Environment, Maryland Office of the Attorney General File Lawsuit Against Fleischmann’s Vinegar Facility in Baltimore for Alleged Violation of Maryland’s Water Pollution Laws

Complaint Seeks Financial Penalty and Corrective Action

BALTIMORE (April 5, 2023) – Maryland Department of the Environment Secretary Serena McIlwain and Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today announced the filing of a lawsuit against the Fleischmann’s Vinegar Company to stop unauthorized discharges of pollution from the company’s Baltimore facility.

“The Maryland Department of the Environment is committed to a renewed focus on enforcement of our environmental laws and regulations,” said Secretary McIlwain. “This case is the result of working in cooperation with Blue Water Baltimore and Chesapeake Legal Alliance. We appreciate our partnership with these strong advocacy organizations.”

“Unpermitted discharges from industrial facilities threaten water quality and the environment and impact the public health of the communities adjacent to them,” said Attorney General Brown. “We filed this action today in coordination with our partners to ensure that these alleged violations at Fleischmann’s Vinegar Company’s Baltimore facility are promptly investigated and remediated.”

The complaint, filed today in Baltimore City Circuit Court, describes a number of alleged permit violations at the Fleischmann’s facility, which is adjacent to the Jones Falls. The alleged violations include unauthorized discharges and failing to efficiently operate treatment and control systems.

Fleischmann’s operates a vinegar facility on West Cold Spring Lane in Baltimore. That facility operates under a permit issued by the department that regulates discharge into the Jones Falls.

The Maryland Department of the Environment began an investigation into the facility’s operations after receiving a report from Blue Water Baltimore in September 2021 of a fish kill and water quality issues in the Jones Falls in the vicinity of the plant.

The complaint lists Fleischmann’s Vinegar Company and its parent company, Kerry, as defendants. Filed on behalf of the Maryland Department of the Environment by the Office of the Attorney General, it requests that the court order the company to cease discharging pollutants in violation of its permits and to take all steps necessary to come into permanent and consistent compliance with permit requirements. It also asks the court to assess civil penalties against the city of up to $10,000 per violation per day.

Blue Water Baltimore also filed suit against the company yesterday in the U.S. District Court in Baltimore.

Maryland Department of the Environment inspections revealed the alleged violations of state water pollution laws that are described in its suit in the City Circuit Court. That lawsuit also alleges past unauthorized discharges of ethyl alcohol and acetic acid, exceedances of allowed limits for pH and chlorine and failure to maintain and efficiently operate dechlorination treatment and control systems. It also alleges the company failed to report increases in the flow of its discharge and that it did not have required coverage under a stormwater permit.

The complaint also requests the court to order the company to conduct a study of the facility infrastructure and stormwater system to identify the causes of the alleged violations and unauthorized discharges and to identify and eliminate all interconnections between the facility and a Baltimore City stormwater outfall.

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