Meat processors caught off guard by DNR restrictions in Fredericktown

Ruble’s Meat Market Keith Ruble, slicing meat at his Ironton shop. He began taking carcasses to the Piedmont transfer station after Fredericktown halted dumping them from a Department of Natural Resources restriction. Matt Morey, Democrat News

In November, the Fredericktown ceased animal carcass disposal at their transfer station for sanitation requirements, as requested by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Local processors were abruptly forced to adapt for the holiday hunting season.

The restrictions came when the DNR said the transfer station had not met the criteria to mix animal carcasses with their regular trash. It would require certification, Fredericktown Deputy Clerk Ashley Baudendistel said, which would need a detailed plan on handling disease and refuse of the animals and could take months.

Their other option would be to haul trash everyday to Marissa, Illinois, which needs a 24 hour notice, City Administrator James Settle said. The city would not have the resources or money for several days a week, he said.

Walker Meat Processor Owner Kelly Walker, stationed on a county road down Highway 72, said the restriction hit especially hard near deer season, where they had 700 deer just in November. She said she wasn’t notified, and told another in the area.

“The closest landfill is in St. Louis, so what are we supposed to do?,” Walker said. Her solution: buy a $10,000 incinerator.

“A week prior to deer season starting I had to spend a chunk of change,” she said. “I don’t have time available to make a 4-hour minimum trip to the landfill.”

While a consolation, the incinerator is more labor and cost-intensive, burning 18 carcasses in 2 hours, using up propane and time.

John Brewen, owner of Brewen Processing and Catering said it was a privilege to use the transfer station as a non-citizen, but pivoted to using animals for composting. The process of composting — burying the animal carcasses in fresh sawdust until they break down after a couple years — was his practice before dropping off at the city. He previously switched to the transfer station when he lost his source.

“And it all kind of worked out,” Brewen said, now that he found a sawdust source with animals to bury, a DNR-approved method.

“But they could have been a little more courteous about letting us know they’re going to cut us off,” said Brewen. He found out after taking deer to the transfer station in November.

“It’s frustrating all around, it’s frustrating for us too,” Baudendistel said. “But we have to abide by our regulations.”

“We couldn’t give them any more notice than we gave them because we can’t accept animal carcasses and break DNR rules, right?” she said.

Another processor owner in the area, Tara Pruett, said she felt the city wasn’t trying hard enough to find a solution.

“It’s the law, we have to take our meat to a transfer station or a landfill,” Pruett said. She said they found a processing station in Piedmont, though much longer than their four miles to Fredericktown.

Walker said they may have isolated a day, for example, for each of the processors to drop meat off in a lined trailer.

“The options are available,” she said. “They could have at least reached out to us.”