Permit Woes Complicate NM Horse Processing Plant Opening

The New Mexico Environment Department denied Valley Meats’ wastewater permit request, pending a hearing.
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A denied wastewater permit and a high-profile lawsuit will not prevent the Valley Meats Co. LLC from opening its horse processing plant on time, according to the firm’s attorney, Blair Dunn. Meanwhile, one equine scientist thinks horse processing could be good for the equine industry.

On June 28 Valley Meats received a USDA Food Safety Inspection Services (FSIS) permit, which allows the placement of USDA personnel at the processing plant to carry out horsemeat inspections. According to a USDA representative, the plant is slated to open on Aug. 5. However, Dunn said that on July 22, the New Mexico Environment Department denied Valley Meats’ request for a wastewater permit, pending a hearing. In response to the denial, Valley Meats has now contracted with a firm that installed wastewater tanks on the Valley Meats property and would haul wastewater from that property.

“It’s just another expense, but it won’t keep us from opening Aug. 5,” Dunn said.

At the same time, actor Robert Redford and former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson have helped fund a foundation that will join a federal lawsuit brought by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and other equine welfare groups intended to make horse processing for human consumption illegal in the United States. The lawsuit alleges that U.S. culture does not support horse processing for human consumption and that chemical residue found in U.S. horsemeat is harmful to humans

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Written by:

Pat Raia is a veteran journalist who enjoys covering equine welfare, industry, and news. In her spare time, she enjoys riding her Tennessee Walking Horse, Sonny.

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