Perdue AgriBusiness agrees to $12 million settlement with the Maryland Department of Environment

Baltimore — Perdue AgriBusiness LLC and the Maryland Department of Environment agreed to a $12 million settlement for air pollution violations at their Salisbury soybean facility. 

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown and Maryland Department of Environment Secretary Serena McIlwain announced the settlement Wednesday. 

At issue was Perdue's withdrawal of an initial permit application in 2017 to create new equipment, then failing to reapply before expanding its operations with new equipment in 2022. The complaint filed at Wicomico County Circuit Court said the use of unauthorized equipment increased air pollution emissions in the region.

Perdue is located on Maryland's Eastern Shore and operates grain, food, and oilseed businesses. Their commercial poultry products and soybean processing facilities are regulated with permits to control emissions of dangerous compounds that mix with other chemicals in heat to form ground-level ozone, which can be harmful to human health.   

Perdue will be forced to pay a fine of $8 million, complete $400,000 of environmental projects for the city of Salisbury, pay $3.5 million in onsite pollution reduction actions including electrifying heavy diesel equipment, and commit to acquiring the appropriate environmental permits. 

"This case shows that everyone must follow the most basic requirements under our environmental laws and regulations because overburdened communities living near industry often pay the price," Secretary McIlwain said. "This is a fair settlement for Maryland that shows how companies can address these types of problems, come back into compliance with cleaner processing equipment and with proper permitting, and continue playing an important role in our state's economy. We appreciate Perdue's cooperation and are pleased the issue will be remedied and the community will benefit from new environmental enhancements." 

"Salisbury, Maryland is our home, where our family-owned company was founded over 100 years ago," Kevin McAdams, Perdue Farms CEO said. "We are proud to have an annual economic impact of $1.6 billion in the state of Maryland. While we have made some missteps along the way, we take full accountability, as reflected in today's settlement agreement. We have taken substantial actions to ensure we have the proper controls in place to prevent this from happening again." 

The settlement is subject to final court approval.