Salisbury Residents Fear Perdue's Water Discharge Permit

Residents in Salisbury are voicing strong concerns regarding Perdue Agribusiness's application to increase its daily wastewater discharge into the Peggy Branch stream. The company is seeking permission to release up to 1 million gallons per day, a substantial rise from its current average of approximately 205,000 gallons. This request has intensified anxieties among those living near Perdue's extensive campus, especially given the company's history with PFAS, or 'forever chemicals,' contamination.

Perdue is currently involved in multiple lawsuits with over 550 local residents who depend on well water, alleging that the company polluted their groundwater with cancer-causing PFAS. In response, Perdue has initiated its own legal action against 3M and Johnson Controls, identifying firefighting foam used at its soybean processing plant as the sole source of the contamination.

The company asserts that the increased discharge is a necessary component of essential upgrades to its wastewater treatment system, involving the replacement of aging lagoons with modern treatment tanks. Under the proposed Clean Water Act permit, Perdue would face stricter limits on PFAS discharges, with any detectable levels above 4 nanograms per liter potentially leading to violations and penalties after an initial monitoring period.

Despite Perdue's claims of voluntary PFAS treatment system installation in 2025 and efforts to provide water treatment systems to affected homeowners, skepticism persists. Residents fear that the proposed discharge increase could exacerbate existing water quality issues and challenge the adequacy of their own water filtration systems, questioning the balance between corporate expansion and public health.