Department of Natural Resources, director, Mark Templeton told a press conference that tests in four northwest Missouri counties where sludge from Prime Tanning was used as fertilizer did not contain high enough levels of chromium 6, a known carcinogen, to pose a health problem.
At the news conference, officials from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), DNR and Missouri Department of Health discussed their investigation into concerns from residents in the Cameron area about a high number of brain tumours.
The officials said that they believe that the sludge at the tannery is not at fault. It appears that from the EPA results the tannery has been vindicated and it remains to be seen if the legal action will continue.
A number of residents in the Cameron area have issued a lawsuit against Nation Beef Leathers and Prime Tanning claiming that sludge spread over farmland as a fertilizer from the tannery contained harmful levels of chromium 6 which caused brain tumours in a number of local residents.
