ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 3, 1996 TAG: 9612030093
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE
The U.S. Justice Department has extended the deadline for Smithfield Foods Inc. to consider settling a threatened federal lawsuit for alleged pollution violations.
"We are still talking," Anthony Troy, a Richmond lawyer hired by Smithfield, said Monday.
The Justice Department has given the Fortune 500 pork processor an ultimatum: Pay $3.5 million or face a lawsuit in U.S. District Court over the dumping of hog wastes into the Pagan River.
The federal action against Smithfield - parent of Valleydale Foods Inc. of Salem - is the latest skirmish between Gov. George Allen and the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
In August, state Attorney General Jim Gilmore sought to block federal intervention by filing a lawsuit against Smithfield in Isle of Wight Circuit Court. Federal lawyers countered in October, saying their claim against Smithfield takes precedence because Virginia, despite Gilmore's last-minute lawsuit, has been soft on polluters for years.
Troy said federal officials have given Smithfield another week or two to make a decision. Smithfield has taken steps to reduce the volume of hog wastes by tying one of its two Pagan River plants into a regional sewage treatment plant.
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