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MISSISSIPPI POULTRY EXECUTIVE PLEADS GUILTY IN WATER CASE
Release Date: 11/02/2000
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FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, NOV. 2, 2000
MISSISSIPPI POULTRY EXECUTIVE PLEADS GUILTY IN WATER CASE
John McCarty, Chief Executive Officer of McCarty Farms Inc., and former Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Central Industries Inc., pleaded guilty on Oct. 26 to violating the Clean Water Act. McCarty acknowledged that during the early 1990s, as a corporate officer of Central Industries, he negligently allowed the discharge of unlawful levels of polluted wastewater from a rendering plant in Scott County to flow into Tallabogue Creek, a tributary of the Pearl River. Central Industries renders slaughterhouse wastes into animal feed and other products. Discharging unlawful levels of organic wastes into surface waters can reduce oxygen in rivers and streams, harming fish and aquatic life. When sentenced, McCarty faces a maximum of up to one year in prison and, or a fine of up to $100,000, or both. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the FBI and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. The case is being jointly prosecuted by the Environmental Crimes Section of the U.S. Department of Justice and by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Jackson, Miss.
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