NM Horse Slaughter Plant Faces More Hurdles

New Mexico's Valley Meat Co. has another obstacle in its path to becoming a horse slaughterhouse. A Larkspur, Colo., group, Front Range Equine Rescue, has notified the Roswell company and two federal agencies - the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture - of its intent to sue for violation of the Clean Water Act. Bruce Wagman, a partner at Schiff Hardin, a law firm representing Front Range Equine Rescue, said this issue goes back at least five years. "This is about the failure to obtain a permit for discharge of contaminants from storm water," he said. "It's an ongoing violation because, as far as we know, they had a Grant of Inspection for cow slaughter all those years and were in violation of the Clean Water Act every day they were doing it." A USDA Grant of Inspection is required before meat from a slaughterhouse can be sold. Wagman said the agency doesn't necessarily look at Clean Water Act issues when it decides on this document, so it is possible to be approved for business without being in compliance. Valley Meat's attorney, A. Blair Dunn, said the company will not be out of compliance by the end of the 60-day time period in the notice to sue...more