A meat processing plant and four of its employees could face prison time and significant penalties after prosecutors accused them of pumping wastewater containing animal flesh, blood and feces into a creek that flows to the ocean and a public beach. The newly unsealed indictment charges Ganaderos Borges Inc. (GBI) with four Clean Water Act violations and conspiracy to violate the act as part of a scheme to avoid millions of dollars in annual waste removal costs.
GBI operates a slaughterhouse and meat processing facility in Naguabo, Puerto Rico. Prosecutors allege that the defendants knowingly discharged wastewater from the facility’s waste retention lagoon into U.S. waters without a Clean Water Act permit. The waste reportedly included animal blood, hair, tissue and feces, as well as grease, disinfectant and other liquids used in the slaughterhouse and processing areas.
The indictment states that GBI held a non-discharge wastewater treatment permit that required liquid waste to be hauled from its facility to a disposal site.
Prosecutors say the discharges took place from August 2018 through at least September 2025. Court documents state that GBI President César P. Borges-Arroyo and operator Neftalí Borges-Gómez directed employees to pump liquid waste from the lagoon toward an adjacent creek using a submersible pump and hose. The creek flows approximately half a mile to the Caribbean Sea at Tropical Beach in Naguabo. The defendants also allegedly hid the pump and hose when not in use and provided false and misleading statements and documents to authorities.
The defendants are scheduled to appear in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. If convicted, they face a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each charge. GBI faces a penalty of up to $500,000 per charge.
