An Alberta provincial court judge has fined Cargill $80,000 for intentionally tampering with three waste water samples from its High River beef plant.
In an agreed statement of facts, a former employee admitted to tampering with three waste water treatment samples before they were sent to an outside lab for analysis.
The beef plant is licensed to discharge treated waste water from its plant to nearby Frank Lake but must monitor the amount of phosphorus discharged with the water. It is licensed to discharge about 40 kilograms of phosphorus per day from the facility to limit the harm to the water body.
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Cargill conducted a study from July 2011 to April 2012 to improve the efficiency of the phosphorus removal process by minimizing phosphorus in the waste water. The Cargill employee who led the study experimented with alum dosages to reduce phosphorus levels.
Between February and March of 2012, the employee tampered with the samples by injecting additional alum directly into the samples before they were sent to the lab for analysis. The additional alum made the total phosphorus in the treated water appear artificially low.
The employee was confronted by other employees and their managers and admitted to tampering with the samples and resigned, said a government news release.
The incidents were reported to the provincial agency monitoring the waste water and Cargill pleaded guilty to contravening the rules for its licence.
An analysis of the waste water samples show no sign Cargill exceeded the amount of phosphorus it was allowed to discharge.
