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- No new complaints about John Kuhni Sons Inc., however plant is preparing for possible Chapter 11 bankruptcy
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By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
This year, since January 2010, there have been no new complaints about John Kuhni Sons Inc., Mills Road, located south of Levan.
Kuhni’s tenure in Juab County has brought financial woes, family discord, citizen complaints of odor and disposal violations and a string of environmental violations.
For this reason, Juab County Commissioners have set up periodic meetings with the owners of the facility in order to find out what progress the company is making in cleaning up the facility.
Paul Kuhni, new president of the facility, and Tyler Young, attorney with Allen K. Young, his father, at Young, Kester & Petro, Provo, who represent John Kuhni and Sons, Inc, attended county commission on Monday to discuss the progress of the company in meeting terms of the company’s conditional use permit.
Young represents Paul and Greg, brothers of Kevin, who first ran the plant. Paul and Greg took over operations in March 2009.
“We haven’t had any new complaints,” said Val Jones, commission chairman. “That is good news.”
LuWayne Walker, commissioner, asked about the status of the state-demanded waste water disposal plan.
“The state came down after our last snowstorm,” said Paul Kuhni.
Officials did not see the expected erosion behind the facility and are now determining if berms, at first thought necessary, may not need to be installed at the expense of the company after all.
Jones said that, in a recent trip past the plant, he had noticed water pockets located against the fence.
Those pockets do not leave the property and, in fact, the pond located on the property was built for that purpose, said Young.
“We are preparing for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy,” said Young. “As it is today, John Kuhni Sons Inc, would not pull through without it.”
There was too much old debt, he said. The good news is that some of those creditors were willing to work with the company through the bankruptcy.
“Right now,” said Paul Kuhni, “we are running the plant three days a week for three shifts (60 hours) which is more cost effective.”
Kuhnis moved from Provo to Juab County six years ago. Provo City contributed more than $2 million to help finance the move from the East Bay location into Juab County.
John Kuhni started the company in Provo in 1937.
The facility processes over 1,000 tons of animal carcasses and butcher scraps daily. In addition, restaurant grease and yellow grease collected throughout the state is also processed.
One of the greatest benefits to the state, however, remains dead animal carcass disposal. The facility is Utah’s only animal rendering plant.
All raw material collected is then cooked and crushed into meat and bone meal used in animal feeds, as well as tallow for makeup and other products.
In recent years, Kuhni’s grandsons went to court over ownership of the company. The resulting settlement left Kevin Kuhni with day-to-day control. He was the one who managed the move to the new site in 2004.
Problems began when, in January 2005, Juab County sheriff’s deputies and officials from the Central Utah Public Health Department, responding to citizen complaints, found a 10-foot-deep pit which contained raw waste located next to the plant.
In February 2005, those same officials noted waste water running from the plant into nearby Chicken Creek. Those officials notified the state Division of Water Quality, which took samples.
The samples were found to contain fecal bacteria and other contaminants. The division issued the first of six violation notices the company.
The company resisted paying the fines, but has now reached an agreement with the state to reduce the fines in exchange for completing facilities to treat waste water on site.
“Make certain that the state gets us a letter when you have finalized the storm water disposal plan,” said Walker. “If you meet the state’s criteria, then we would not need you to come in every three months.”
There is too much clay at the site for storm water to ever filtrate as was first hoped, said Paul Kuhni. However, that water can be controlled on site.
Water coming from the rendering process can be recycled and, hopes are, said Paul Kuhni, that the company can purchase and install a reverse osmosis machine in the near future. These machines are custom-designed water treatment systems that solve a number of water quality issues.
Reverse osmosis (RO) is a membrane separation process in which feed water flows along the membrane surface under pressure. Purified water permeates the membrane and is collected, while the concentrated water, containing dissolved and undissolved material that does not flow through the membrane, is discharged to the drain.
The key requirements of Reverse Osmosis (RO) process are a membrane and water under a pressure. Most membranes remove 90-99 percent of the dissolved impurities, such as, salts, microorganisms and many high molecular weight organics.
The company employs approximately 40 people and, in addition, the company provides a valuable public service, said Jones.
“I think we are sitting really good right now,” said Paul Kuhni.
“Well, in your case, no news is good news,” said Jones.
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