By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
John Kuhni’s Sons, an animal by-product plant located in south Juab County near Mills Junction, is working to make themselves into good neighbors.
Allan Young, attorney for the venture, and Paul Kuhni, president, attended county commission meeting to give a report on the activities of the facility.
Kuhni’s grandsons fought in court over ownership of the company which ended with a settlement that gave Kevin Kuhni control of operations. It was Kevin Kuhni who headed the move to Juab County in 2004.
However, it was under his leadership that things started to go awry. Over the next year, several violations were accumulated.
Then in March 2009, there was another family shake-up and Paul Kunhi became president of the animal by-products plant.
“The company will have to be financially reorganized,” said Young. “But we are getting tons of support from those who use us.”
“We made a proposal to our creditors and they were not interested,” Young said.
That would, likely, mean that the company would need to apply for Chapter 11, or reorganization, bankruptcy.
Three of the four brothers: Gregory, Paul and Jeffrey now serve as officers of the plant. Kevin Kuhni is still involved but not in the day-to-day management of the plant.
“We have entered into a second consent decree with the state,” said Young.
When the state did some recent water testing, it was found that the soil is clay and doesn’t percolate, said Paul Kuhni.
Juab County Sheriff’s Deputies and officials from the Central Utah Public Health Department, in January 2005, discovered a 10-foot deep pit next to the plant.
It was reported to Juab County Commissioners as holding raw and untreated slaughterhouse waste.
Then in February 2005, waste water was found running from the plant into Chicken Creek.
Storm water can be another problem if it runs across the property into Chicken Creek unless the property is kept clean of contaminants.
Commissioners have worked, since 2005, to bring the company into compliance. Kuhnis operates on a conditional use permit granted by the county.
That permit has been threatened if compliance is not forthcoming.
Division of Water Quality officials were alerted. They took on-site samples, tested them and established that fecal bacteria, along with other contaminants, was in the waste water.
Over the next short while, six other violations occurred. One of those was for boiler water being dropped at private property in surrounding counties. Those included Sanpete and Utah Counties in addition to Juab County.
There were equipment failures and operator errors which resulted in the commission requiring that they be notified in advance of those types of problems. As the problems escalated, state fines of more than $200,000 resulted.
“Before Paul came,” said Young, “the plant was cooking 24-hours a day. Now the plant operates 10 to 12 hours a day.”
Requirements of the state, said Paul Kuhni, are that, not only must the plant and its grounds be cleaned-up but that they must also be kept that way or maintained.
“Is the water by-passing the septic system?” asked LuWayne Walker, commissioner.
The state came, said Kuhni, and did die tests in November. However, the plant has not been notified of the findings.
Young said, that while negotiations with the state were going on, some deadlines came and went.
“We have now met every deadline the state has set,” said Young. “We are motivated to meet each deadline because each one met substantially reduces the fine.”
“We just ask that you comply with the terms of the conditional use permit,” said LuWayne Walker, commissioner.
One thing he knew, said Paul Kuhni, was that the president of the company had to be hands-on. He had to be at the site when it was operating so that problems could be solved quickly.
He said that it took approximately $60,000 per month just to haul the wastewater away from the site to a certified disposal site.
In addition, a big expense is the propane fuel which must be hauled to the plant.
Commission Chairman Val Jones has been talking to the Six County AOG about ways to bring natural gas to the plant. He has been looking for grants and low-cost loans the county might obtain in order to build such a line. That would help the county as well as the plant because it would allow further industrial development in the area.
Kuhni and Sons processes animal carcasses, butcher scraps and restaurant grease into meat and bone meal used in animal feeds. Another by-product of the rendering process is tallow.
The Kuhnis are to report to the county commission on a quarterly basis.
