DEP fines Ayer plant $5K over air pollution

AYER – The state Department of Environmental Protection issued a demand for $5,000 in penalties to Nasoya Foods USA LLC after multiple noxious odor incidents in December and April.

It was the fourth penalty demand letter DEP has issued to the company for causing air pollution by releasing odorous sulfur compounds from its tofu manufacturing plant at 1 New England Way.

Under a 2017 consent order with the DEP, Nasoya Foods USA was assessed a $27,360 penalty for odor violations.

The company was also required to make improvements to its air scrubber system, submit a long-range plan for odor control and not cause air pollution while in operation.

Since then, according to the DEP, the company has installed a regenerative thermal oxidizer to control the odorous emissions. However, during this period, the DEP received numerous odor complaints that were subsequently confirmed by the company’s on-call odor consultant or the local Board of Health.

“Nasoya has installed the new air-pollution control equipment and received the new air permit from MassDEP to operate it,” said Mary Jude Pigsley, director of MassDEP’s Central Regional Office in Worcester. “The company, however, is still on notice through these penalty demands that it must operate the facility without creating a condition of air pollution.”