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The owners of an industrial biogas facility in Wayne County are racking up violations and fines, yet taking no apparent action to fix ongoing pollution issues.

On Aug. 12, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality issued a $7,346 civil penalty to BIOX Renewables. A fine of $10,696 issued in May has yet to be paid.

“In all, this demonstrates that BIOX is not taking this operation seriously, and that they are willing to play fast and loose with management and maintenance, therefore risking another major spill affecting Nahunta Swamp,” said Neuse Riverkeeper Samantha Krop.

Last year, BIOX Renewables took over the site of a major hog-waste spill in 2022, but the company has since come under scrutiny for continued pollution in and around Nahunta Swamp. Sound Rivers first reported the facility to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality in January after a hotline caller spotted hog waste from a defunct lagoon being pumped onto neighboring agricultural fields and into the woods. Water samples collected from puddles and ditches by Samantha and Water Quality Specialist Taylor Seijo had “off-the-charts” levels of E. coli on their initial visit. Results from samples collected from a drainage ditch in February and March showed the same high levels of E. coli and Nitrogen levels 12 times that which is considered “normal.”

NCDEQ issued notices of violation to BIOX in January, April and June, along with the May civil penalty.

“The original NOV was for the illicit discharge into the ditches that we sampled, and subsequent issues have focused on lack of a certified operator in charge, lack of waste management plans, and failure to do proper maintenance and recordkeeping failures,” Samantha said.

The April NOV cited a failure to submit a waste-management plan and a groundwater monitoring plan.

“They are still operating under the previous facility’s plan, which is illegal,” Samantha said.

The June NOV discloses BIOX has been taking monthly freeboard and precipitation measurements, rather than the weekly as required; notes the need for lagoon cover maintenance; and for BIOX to hire an operator in charge, which was cited in the first NOV in January.

“The civil penalties were for the first two violations, and there is a potential third civil penalty coming for the third NOV,” Samantha said.

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