Countryside Quality Meats, Inc.

Countryside Quality Meats, a 50-year-old facility with combined sanitary and process wastewater, had outgrown their original septic field causing surface ponding.

Since the facility is not surrounded by crop ground they own, the only option was to expand and relocate the drain field. EGLE’s current groundwater discharge permit didn’t allow for comingled sewage from a slaughterhouse so applying for an Individual Permit was necessary. 

Environmental Resources Group, LLC (ERG), provided Groundwater Discharge Permit (GDP) compliance and design services for a replacement septic drain field for Countryside Quality Meats (CQM) in Union City, Michigan, due to failure of the original field. The USDA-inspected slaughterhouse formerly operated under a General Groundwater Discharge Permit (GDP) but was upgraded to an Individual Permit since the decades old facility discharges combined sanitary and process wastewater into the same drain field. 

ERG designed a new drain field based on historical flow and effluent data, including five-day biological oxygen demand (BOD) and other key parameters. To confirm the septic drain field design sizing is appropriate, ERG used a multi-year average and maximum BOD loading design parameters. ERG also used a Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) suggested maximum BOD loading rate of 50 lb./day/acre to size the new septic drain field. To protect aerobic conditions in the soil and manage wastewater appropriately, ERG recommended a four-zone septic drain field, with 8,280 square feet footprint, and mandatory automatic dosing switch to dose a different zone each time the discharge pump was activated. ERG prepared design drawings and construction specifications for the project and provided oversight construction services.

In addition, ERG provides effluent sampling, laboratory testing, and Annual Report services to CQM to comply with their Individual GDP via MiWaters, the state’s computerized, digital, database for compliance reporting.

 SERVICES PROVIDED

Wastewater management

Septic drain field design

Wastewater sampling,
analysis and evaluation 

Permitting and compliance services