Egg Producer Fined

The Ohio Attorney General has announced that Ohio Fresh Eggs, the state’s largest egg producer, will pay $625,000 to settle 71 permit and pollution violations, some of which date back to 2003. In addition to paying the fine, Ohio Fresh Eggs will also have to adhere to stricter pest-control policies and complete a $300,000 environmental-improvement project by 2013. This is not the first offense for Ohio Fresh Eggs. In 2009, the company was ordered to pay $300,000 for violating clean-water rules, and in 2004, Mercy for Animals released an undercover video exposing animal cruelty at the company’s factory farms.