Cavel continues to pay fines to sanitary district

DeKALB - The horse slaughterhouse run by Cavel International has paid $5,500 in fines for violating the terms of its sewage discharge permit in 11 of 12 months last year. The violations have continued this year, according to Cavel plant Manager Jim Tucker and DeKalb Sanitary District Manager Mike Zima, as Cavel has held off on making improvements to an on-site sewage pretreatment system in the face of congressional action that could bar horse slaughter entirely. The plant does not pose a public health risk or hinder the sanitary district's operations, according to Zima. He said the fines were levied because Cavel has exceeded the amount of biodegradable waste and ammonia - byproducts of the horse-slaughtering process - that it can send into