Jackson Jambalaya

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality said Gold Coast Commodities operated a wastewater treatment plant that sickened neighbors, improperly released Hydrogen sulfide gas, and improperly released 418,000 gallons of acidic water into the environment.  The agency ordered Gold Coast to shut down the facility on September 11.  The order also states Gold Coast illegally dumped millions of gallons of the industrial wasterwater into the Brandon and Jackson sewer systems.

 

Problems began when the city of Brandon determined Gold Coast illegally discharged oily, acidic water into the Brandon sewer system.  The city filed a complaint with MDEC in October 2016.  A MDEQ report explains the nuts and bolts of the Gold Coast Commodities operation:

(GCC President Tom Douglas) stated the facility refines used cooking oil and soapstock from various oil processers to produce liquid fat used in animal feed. He said they use gravity separation to remove the water from the used cooking oil. The soapstock and used oil are transported to the facility via truck and rail tanker from places in MS, LA, AR, and TN. Their site in Brandon, MS has five-million-pounds of storage. Mr. Cox asked him what kind of caustic Is used In the process. Mr. Douglas said they use caustic soda and went on to describe the process and reasons why caustic is used. He explained the facility adds sulfuric acid to the soapstock and used oil along with Increasing the temperature to approximately 180 degrees Fahrenheit via steam in heating coils. This causes the fatty acids to be released from the chemical bonds. Caustic is added after to raise the pH to a range of 6 to 8. I asked Mr. Douglas specifically if sodium hydroxide (NaOH) Is the caustic used. He stated yes, a 50% NaOH solution. He also said the sulfuric acid solution used is 92%. As we were walking along the process area, he showed us the caustic storage tank, the sulfuric acid tank, and the reactor vessel. Mr. Douglas explained the reactor occasionally overflows. The overflow is supposed to be contained within the tank farm area, which has a drain.

The agency initiated an enforcement action against the company in March 2017.  MDEQ discovered Gold Coast was also discharging industrial waste into Pelahatchie's  sewer system without a permit and started another enforcement action in May 2019.

Gold Coast did not confine its illegal discharges to Rankin County but used a Jackson company to dump its acidic industrial waste into the Jackson sewer system.   Gold Coast shipped the waste to Rebel High Velocity Sewer Service's facility on Wilmington Street in Jackson. Rebel in turn dumped the waste into the Jackson system without a permit.  MDEQ discovered the chicanery on October 24, 2017 and issued a cease and desist order against Rebel three days later.


Someone must have notified the Fibbies because the Justice Department filed a Bill of Information on August 20, 2020 against Rebel owner, Andrew Walker.  The Bill states "Company A" shipped millions of gallons of industrial waste to Rebel in 2016 and 2017.  Rebel in turn discharged the highly acidic waste into the Jackson sewer system without a permit.  Company A is Gold Coast Commodities. 

Facing trouble on all fronts, Gold Coast built its own wastewater treatment site in Rankin County and submitted an  application to MDEQ in 2019.  MDEQ issued a permit on August 13, 2019 that allowed Gold Coast to discharge 15,000 gallons per day into an aerated lagoon.  Unfortunately, Gold Coast soon reverted to its old ways.

MDEQ found storm water violations in an October inspection and notified Gold Coast of the violations.  The notices failed to deter the company from breaking even more rules. The order states:

An inspection by MDEQ staff on June 12, 2020 , of the Rankin County Wastewater Treatment Site revealed that Respondent had not installed the electrical lines to the aerators; that Respondent had not installed and was not operating the aerators; and that Respondent had not installed the required depth markers in the lagoon. MDEQ further noted the detection of odors from the lagoon both on- and off-site.

 The news only gets worse:

On July 20, 2020, after eight months of disposing wastewater into the unaerated lagoon, Respondent began operation of the aerators at the Rankin County Wastewater Treatment Site, an operation that should have begun at or near the time wastewater was first introduced to the lagoon. Emergency personnel responded to the scene when persons present during the initiation of aerator operation became ill. An investigation revealed that those individuals were exposed to hydrogen sulfide gas coming from the lagoon. Upon information and belief , at least one person was transported to the hospital. At the request of MDEQ, Respondent began monitoring the site and surrounding area for hydrogen sulfide gas. On or about July 21, 2020, the air monitors detected hydrogen sulfide gas at concentrations as high as 58 ppm near the lagoon, which exceeds the 10 minute-Emergency Exposure Guidance Level of 50 ppm. MDEQ has required Respondent to alter its operations to mitigate these occurrences.

Gold Coast still didn't learn its lesson:

MDEQ also received odor complaints and/or MDEQ staff noted strong odors coming from the Rankin County Wastewater Treatment Site on at least eleven occasions in 2020: May 8, June 11, June 18, July 13, July 20, July 31, August 3, August 24, August 26, August 27, and September 8. On August 12, 2020, MDEQ issued a Notice of Violation for violation of the nuisance odor regulation (11 Miss. Admin. Code, Pt. 2, Ch. 4) . In addition, MDEQ has received complaints of an increase in flying insects around the lagoon and surrounding properties. None of the above enforcements have been fully resolved.

There is also the matter of a big, yuge spill:

Finally, on August 30, 2020, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency notified MDEQ that Respondent had released approximately 418,000 gallons of wastewater from the Rankin County Wastewater Treatment Site. This release traveled onto neighboring properties and into nearby creeks, resulting in a fish kill.

MDEQ determined Gold Coast had an illegal bypass, applied wastewater during heavy rainfall or when soil was saturated, didn't operate the aerators,  repeatedly discharged industrial wastewater into the lagoon when the aerators did not work, and failed to control odors emanating from the site.

The agency ordered Gold Coast to immediately stop sending its wastewater to the Rankin County site until MDEQ gives it permission to do so.

Gold Coast must submit within two weeks a plan to remedy the violations.   The company may request a hearing within 30 days.

Tom Douglas is the President, Secretary, and Treasurer of the Company.  Robert Douglas is Vice-President. 

Kingfish note: It is pretty clear that Gold Coast Commodities is "Company A" in the Bill of Information.  The Bill stated:

 19. It was the purpose of the conspirators and the objective of their conspiracy to benefit financially by removing Company A's industrial waste from its production facility and trucking it to locations in Jackson where they discharged it into the sewer system of Jackson, Mississippi at unauthorized discharge points, thus avoiding the expense of the pretreatment required by law, sewer usage fees, and the cost of waste disposal at a permitted facility. The conspirators thereby sought to profit by evading the regulations that protect the infrastructure of Jackson's sewer system and the efficacy of its treatment plant.

20. On or about November 28, 2016, Individual A-1 contacted defendant ANDREW WALKER and requested that the defendant transport Company A's waste to JWTS's Savanna Street treatment plant for disposal. Individual A-1 told defendant ANDREW WALKER that this was necessary because Company A had recently been ordered by local authorities to stop illegally discharging its industrial waste into the JWTS sewer serving its production plant.

21. Between in or around November 28 and December 28, 2016, defendant ANDREW WALKER trucked and hauled Company A's wastewater to JWTS's Savanna Street treatment plant and then to his facility, Rebel, where he discharged it into a JWTS sewer.

22. In or around early January 2017, defendant ANDREW WALKER agreed with Individual A-1 to dispose of Company A's industrial waste at Rebel and to arrange with Company B for its delivery to Rebel. For almost a year, through October 2017, Company B transported millions of gallons of Company A's industrial waste to Rebel where defendant ANDREW WALKER, with the consent and assistance oflndividuals A-1, A-2, A-3, B-1, B-2, and B-3 illegally caused it to be pumped into JWTS, the same publicly owned wastewater treatment  system into which Company A had already been prohibited from discharging it....

b.         On or about December 28, 2016, defendant ANDREW WALKER telephoned Individual A-1 and told him that Rebel had a permit allowing him to discharge into the JWTS sewer wastewater he had sent through his grease removal equipment called an ALAR processor.  Defendant ANDREW WALKER told Individual A-I that he was not using the ALAR equipment to process Company A's  waste but, he said, it could "provide cover" for both of them...

 1.             From January through October 2017, employees of Company A, as arranged and directed  by Individuals A-1, A-2, and A-3, loaded approximately three million gallons of Company A's  waste  into Company B's  tanker trucks for transportation to Rebel for disposal into the JWTS sewer  system.

J.           From January through October 2017, Company A sent checks signed by Individual A-2,  paying Company B for services described as "Transport Non-Haz Wastewater to Rebel High Velocity For  Disposal."

MDEQ issued a Cease & Desist Order against Rebel on October 27,  2017.  The order spells out the connection between Gold Coast and Rebel:

A.        Respondent  did  place  or  cause  to  be placed  wastes  in  a  location  where  they  are likely to cause pollution of any waters of the state in violation of Miss. Code Ann. § 49-l 7-29(2)(a). Specifically, the Respondent released untreated or partially treated wastewater received from Gold Coast Commodities of 817 N. College Street, Brandon, Rankin County, Mississippi  into the City of Jackson's publicly owned treatment works (POTW) which is likely to cause interference at the Savanna Street plant and result in pollution of a water of the state;

B.         Respondent  did  introduce  pollutants  into  a  publicly  owned  treatment  works  in violation of pretreatment standards in violation of Miss. Code Ann.§ 49-l 7-43(5)(b) and 11 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 6, Ch.  I  Rule  l. l .1.B(2)(b)(4). Specifically, the Respondent  released  untreated or partially treated wastewater received from Gold Coast Commodities into the City of Jackson's POTW without the appropriate authorization...

Hmmm...... the owner of Rebel is named in a Bill of Information instead of an indictment.  Such is usually the case when a criminal defendant has cut a deal with the feds.  It would not be surprising to learn Gold Coast and its owners are the real targets of the federal investigation.