Carlisle company charged for knowingly contaminating local water supply: attorney general

FRANKLIN COUNTY, Pa. (WHP) — Some residents in Franklin County reported their drinking water smelled like “dead poultry” and “decomposing animals mixed with chicken manure” in June 2021.

About five years later, charges have been handed to a Carlisle-based company and its owner for allegedly contaminating the water and failing to notify authorities.

According to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, Jesse Jones, owner of Jones Manure Hauling, was charged with unlawful conduct under the Clean Streams Act and related misdemeanors.

The company spilled a large amount of food processing residuals (FPR) in Greencastle in 2021, according to investigators. FPR, which include waste from animal slaughter, is often used as a fertilizer.

Jones did not report the spill to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, investigators say.

“This company’s neglect after they knowingly spilled FPR cost neighbors access to clean drinking water — which remains contaminated to this day,” Attorney General Sunday said.

Sunday said his office was referred to the case in 2023, eventually filing charges against Jones on Wednesday in Franklin County court.