WASHINGTON – The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed that it took legal action against Hanover Foods Corp. over alleged violations at its wastewater treatment facility.

Some of the alleged violations reported by the agency include excessive levels of contaminants as well as floating solids and visible scum in the discharged water and receiving water.

Under a consent order with EPA, the Hanover, Penn.-based company will conduct a study to determine the cause of the alleged violations and correct possible water pollution violations identified by federal officials and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

“The company needs to identify why this occurred and present a plan to fix this so that the local waters that eventually feed into the Chesapeake Bay are protected,” said Adam Ortiz, Mid-Atlantic regional administrator for the EPA.

The agency also alleged that Hanover failed to comply with a state-issued National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit to operate its own wastewater treatment facility to treat industrial waste before the wastewater is discharged to Oil Creek, a tributary of Codorus Creek that feeds into the Susquehanna River in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

“In an Administrative Order on Consent, the company has agreed to provide EPA with a complete engineering evaluation and propose and implement a corrective action plan and maintenance plan to correct the alleged violations,” the agency said.