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BREAKING: Tito's Vodka Accused of Dumping Wastewater in Southeast Austin, Says It's Since Been Fixed [Story Updated]
Update 1: We just spoke with Beth Bellanti, Brand Manger at Tito's, who cleared up part of the story for us. Owing to recent rains, there was a spillage of vodka and vodka-making ingredients at the company's bottling facility. The distillery, which is located in a remote part of southeast Austin (it's far—we've trekked out there a few times), doesn't have access to the city sewer system. The 'wastewater' that leaked from the site is the same variety of liquids that could otherwise be poured down a drain, but in their case a special method of collecting the runoff needed to be devised.
According to Bellanti, Tito's has been working closely with the county and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to make sure their facility was restored to compliance—owner Tito Beveridge boasts that the company has been compliant since the 90s—and in fact have managed to work out a solution. Which is why it's doubly weird that the Statesman story broke this afternoon. We'll keep you posted as we gather more details.
Update #2: Via their Twitter account, Tito's owner Tito Beveridge states, "The discharge in question was wash water, which is just spillage off the bottling line and would be safe to pour down a regular kitchen sink. But, because we are not on the city's sewer line, the county informed us that we need to collect this waste so we have been working with the TCEQ on a new recycling system and are already back in compliance, as we have been since 1995."
Update #3: The full story is now up on the Statesman, and also view the TCEQ complaint (dated 9/15/09) online. Additionally, it appears evident in Friday's state summons that when the incident presented itself, Tito's Vodka made repeated attempts to remedy the situation with its neighbors and the spillages in question:
The Statesman has also made available the actual state summons sent to Tito's Homemade Vodka on Friday: download (PDF)
Tito Beveridge's official response, sent out Friday night, is reposted below:
To whom it may concern:Tonight we at Fifth Generation Inc., Titos Handmade Vodka, were disturbed to find out we may have been charged with unauthorized discharge from our distillery. We would like to set the record straight. First of all, all alcohol from our distilling process which is not deemed worthy of being bottled is disposed of off site by a permitted facility which recycles it into fuel in accordance with all state and federal laws. The state regulatory agency, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, TCEQ, has had this information on file for years and we are in compliance having notified them years ago. A county official had seen discharge water coming from our property which ultimately was concluded to come from a valve which was accidentally left on providing cooling water for a condenser. This is city of Austin water going through the condenser which does not touch alcohol. Even though we are in the city of Austin, we have yet to be put on the city sewer system. While on the property officials touring the plant noticed that our drains from our buildings do not go to a sewer system since there is none. After we finish a day of production it is customary to wash down the still house floors and bottling room floors to get ready for the next days production. The officials even commented that hardly any vodka escapes to the floor when bottling. It was explained that the TCEQ had informed us that this washdown water did not need to be contained and that it is diluted and a natural process. At the time we asked them they stated that fruit dropping off a tree ferments to a much greater degree of alcohol content naturally than our washdown water from daily cleaning has. The officials said that we needed to contain this water and we immediately dug trenches, laid drain pipes from all buildings in question, and installed large poly tanks underground to contain the washwater in question. We called the TCEQ and spoke to the official who told us we didn't need to contain the washwater and he said he didn?t realize we were not on city sewer since we are in the city of Austin. He concurred that containment was necessary and advised that a mulch pile would be the most cost effective way to dispose of this washwater. We discussed with the TCEQ about recycling the washwater on site and concluded that to play it safe we would dispose of the washwater off site. We contacted Texas Disposal Systems and filled out their forms to put the washwater on their mulch pile. The TCEQ also said it could be used for dust control or fire suppression. we spoke with the TCEQ today and the Director of the Travis County Environmental Quality Division today who thanked us for moving so quickly on this. Our employees respect the environment and have always strived to be in compliance with all federal, state, county, city and voting district regulations. We would never intentionally do anything to harm the environment and actually, just the opposite, strive to recycle. We have cooperated with the environmental authorities completely. To our knowledge, the incident has been taken care of as soon as we were notified and all city, county and state environmental agencies have agreed that containment and disposal of the washwater under TCEQ recycling guidelines is the correct action. We strive to be the best and will continue making award winning Titos Handmade Vodka proudly in Austin, Texas. We are highly regulated and strive for complete compliance. Thanks for your support and understanding on this very unfortunate event.
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esteban
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causal observer
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