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Ice
cream cone maker cited for sloppiness
Wastewater violations at Flagstaff’s Joy Cone plant lead to
fines
By Lisa Rayner
Tea Party Publisher
An ice cream cone factory located
at the city’s Pulliam Airport Office Park has been found to be
discharging industrial wastewater that violates local and federal
pollution standards. The plant has apparently been in violation
since it opened in 1999. The plant, operated by Joy Cone, has
exceeded effluent limits for Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Total
Suspended Solids and pH levels on a number of occasions over the
past three years. The city discharge limit for BOD is 300 mg/l and
is 350 mg/l for TSS. Water may not exceed a pH level of 6.0–12.5.
The city of Flagstaff and Joy Cone
signed a Settlement and Compliance Schedule Agreement on June 6. The
Agreement was passed by the Flagstaff City Council.
The Agreement states that the
wastewater violations “have resulted from an inadequate testing
site. In addition, the city’s records indicate that Joy Cone has
failed to submit monthly self-monitoring reports for July, August,
October and December 2001, and has failed to perform adequate
biannual sampling.” Joy Cone’s wastewater permit requires the
company to “submit to the city on a regular schedule,
self-monitoring reports documenting the results of Joy Cone’s
representative sampling and testing of its wastewater prior to its
discharge to the wastewater system.”
Joy Cone is potentially liable for
fines and surcharges totaling $30,025. However, the Agreement
includes a fine of only $2,432. Furthermore, “Joy Cone shall
maintain a monthly wastewater monitoring schedule for the discharge
of BOD, TSS, and pH.” The company will “submit a formal written
report on the results of such sampling to the City within five days
from the last day of each month.” In addition, Joy Cone will
“design and install on-site wastewater pretreatment facilities at
its Flagstaff facility.” If the company fails to meet the
construction timeline of one year, or continues to violate local
wastewater regulations, additional fines and surcharges will be
assessed up to $30,025.
Joy Cone Co., a private company
established in 1918 by the George family, is the largest cone
manufacturer in the United States and Canada. Company headquarters
are located in Hermitage, Pa. Joy Cone supplies more than 1 billion
cones per year, and has a near monopoly of the U.S. ice cream cone
market. The company supplies all of the cones sold by McDonald’s,
and also sells to chains such as Dairy Queen and Safeway.
David George, Joy Cone's western
operations manager said in a Daily Sun business article on April 4,
2000, "We wanted to be close to two large markets — that
being California and Texas — and since we're a bakery, we didn't
want to be located in Phoenix, where it gets awfully hot in the
summer time. … We wanted to be in a community that was similar to
the one we have back in Pennsylvania, and we think Flagstaff is the
type of community we want to be in. There's a strong work ethic, and
people seem to take pride in their community here."
Joy Cone hoped at the time that the
Flagstaff plant would ultimately have 10 cake cone ovens producing
about 1.2 million cones per day, resulting in $15–20 million in
annual revenue for the company.
The plant was highly touted by the
Greater Flagstaff Economic Council and the Arizona Daily Sun as a
success story for Flagstaff economic development efforts.
The Daily Sun article said, “There's something sweet about
the beginning of the Joy Cone Co.'s operation in Flagstaff, and it
has more to do with the ice cream cone manufacturer's promising
start here than the tasty aroma of the baking cake cones wafting
through the facility. … The scoop on Flagstaff's newest
mass-production manufacturer is nothing but promising.”
The 63,000-square-foot plant was the first resident of the
Pulliam Airport Business Center. The 106-acre manufacturing/office
park offers public/private partnerships between developers and the
city of Flagstaff. Residents of the business center now include
Peabody Energy and several other large businesses.
At the time of Joy Cone’s opening, The Arizona Department
of Commerce awarded Joy Cone a $40,000 job training grant
“contingent upon the company's plan to hire at least 40 employees
and offer a competitive pay scale,” according to the Daily Sun.
Joy Cone Co. was the first qualified manufacturer to locate in the
Coconino County Enterprise Zone. Due to the Enterprise Zone
designation, Joy Cone also qualified for state income tax credits of
$3,000 per new job created over three years, and a state property
tax abatement of 40 percent to 60 percent over five years. In
addition, Joy Cone received two Certificates of Investment from the
Arizona Department of Commerce that are good for up to five years.
For more information about Joy Cone, visit www.joycone.com.
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