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Along with a virtual session Tuesday, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources has scheduled an in-person informational hearing for the American Foods Group development at 7 p.m., May 30, at the Wright City Lions Club.

The Wisconsin-based company is building an $800 million facility south of Interstate 70 in Warren County that will employ an expected 1,300 workers to process 2,400 cows per day.

But, while state and local officials are touting the development as an economic win for the fast-growing area near Wentzville, some residents in the region are concerned that plans for the treatment and release of water from the plant will degrade Lake Saint Louis, some nine miles to the east.

Karen Clark, a Lake Saint Louis resident, said in an email to the Post-Dispatch that the recreational lake has weathered environmental impacts in the past.

“We don’t want something like that to happen again. Our children and grandchildren swim in this lake, and our local water ski team puts on shows at the ski site, which is located where Peruque Creek enters the lake,” Clark said.

The question of what to do with the waste created by meatpacking facilities has roiled rural Missouri in recent years as Gov. Mike Parson — who operates a small cattle operation in Bolivar — has pressed for an expansion of the beef industry.

In February, a southwest Missouri meatpacking plant that sought to dump treated wastewater into the already impaired Pomme de Terre River shuttered its operation after regulators signaled they would reject the company’s sewage plans.

About 350 employees worked at the Polk County facility.

In the Legislature, state lawmakers earlier this month approved a series of stricter regulations for companies that remove meatpacking sludge from facilities and offer it to farmers as free fertilizer.

The proposed new law, which is awaiting action by Parson, would require companies to obtain water pollution permits, set storage lagoons back from nearby homes and monitor groundwater in certain areas.

Tyson Foods also is under the microscope amid reports that its various meat processing facilities resulted in the dumping of millions of pounds of toxic pollutants directly into American rivers and lakes over the last five years.

According to a Department of Natural Resources permitting report, American Foods Group is building a higher-capacity sewage treatment facility for the plant, and will transfer ownership of the facility to Wright City once it’s complete.

The agency has deemed the wastewater permits sought by the company are “consistent with applicable water quality standards, effluent standards and/or treatment requirements.”

The facility will release an average of about 3.5 million gallons of treated water per day into a tributary of Peruque Creek, which feeds Lake Saint Louis.

The permit calls for a cap on the number of animals processed each day to avoid degrading the creek.

“A limit is required to ensure that the treatment plant is not overtasked with removing pollutants from the slaughtering process,” the report notes.

The permit report also notes that the construction of additional sewage capacity to serve the plant also could serve the surrounding area as new housing developments and businesses are built in the area.

“The goal of the proposed American Food Group facility is intended to accommodate new industrial, residential, and commercial wastewater flows and improve public services associated with wastewater treatment while protecting the surrounding environment in the community,” the report notes.

Tuesday’s virtual hearing begins at 4 p.m. A link to the

Along with the May 30 public hearing, DNR is accepting written comments at Department of Natural Resources, Water Protection Program, P.O. Box 176, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0176, ATTN: NPDES Operating Permits /Permit Comments.