Hinds County Circuit Judge Tomie Green is giving Gold Coast Commodities and other parties extra time to respond to the city of Jackson’s lawsuit over alleged damage to its sewer system.
In an order posted on November 18, Green gave attorneys for Brandon-based Gold Coast, the trucking firm that transported its wastewater to a Jackson facility and several individuals involved with both companies a 30-day extension to respond to discovery requests or any other motions filed by the city of Jackson.
The deadline for discovery will be on December 15, while the defendants will have until December 20 to respond to any motions by the plaintiffs.
Gold Coast uses a proprietary process to transform cooking oil and soapstock — which is a byproduct which originates from the refining of soybean and other oils — into animal feed and biodiesel using sulfuric acid. The wastewater from this process is extremely acidic and must be kept at a high temperature to prevent it from congealing into a pipe-clogging, malodorous sludge.
Gold Coast first disposed of its wastewater into Brandon’s sewer system, which the city said caused damage to pipes in a 2019 lawsuit filed in Rankin County Circuit Court.
After the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality ordered Gold Coast to stop dumping in Brandon in 2016, the company switched to Jackson’s sewer system.
This led to a federal indictment of the contractor doing the dumping and a 2017 order from the MDEQ to cease the disposal. The city of Jackson filed a lawsuit on June 24.
The company is suing the Mississippi Permit Board in Rankin County Chancery Court seeking the return of its wastewater permit to dispose of its wastewater at a lagoon in Pelahatchie, which was the next destination after it was ordered to stop dumping in Jackson. The company dumped 2 million gallons of wastewater into the lagoon before the required aerators were installed.
The lack of aerators led to oppressive odors from the lagoon and plague-like levels of flies, along with a 418,000-gallon spill into nearby Dry Creek that necessitated a water contract advisory by MDEQ.
The separate Mississippi Board of Environmental Quality held a hearing on November 19, 2020 that would allow Gold Coast to resume its operations upon satisfaction of certain conditions. The board also fined the company $505,000 for 11 violations of the state’s environmental laws.
