Mustard maker contaminated N.H. waterway with acidic liquid

Boston Globe

26-02-2025

Santich owns Old Dutch Mustard Co., which opened a mustard and vinegar manufacturing facility in Greenville, N.H., in 1972, according to
Santich could not be reached by telephone or email for comment. But by the company's account, it has been in his family since his grandfather, an immigrant from Yugoslavia, purchased it in 1941, first operating it from a building in Brooklyn, N.Y. By 1984, the company had consolidated its operations in New Hampshire, where
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But the company has a history of not following the Clean Water Act that goes all the way back to the 1980s, according to the plea agreement filed in the US District Court for the District of New Hampshire. In 2016, for example, the company was
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Given past violations, starting in 2004 both the US Environmental Protection Agency and the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services required close monitoring of a brook that flows underneath the facility and eventually into the Souhegan River. Used for recreation, the Souhegan River is also a tributary of the Merrimack River, which provides drinking water by cities including Nashua, N.H., and about
Producing mustard and vinegar generates acidic wastewater, a pollutant that Old Dutch Mustard Co. was supposed to store in tanks and pay a company to haul to a separate treatment plant, the plea agreement said.
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But in 2017, the company hired an excavation company to disconnect a buried water pipe from water tanks and extend it to an abandoned railroad bed, where wastewater and stormwater could be directed toward the Souhegan River, evading the monitoring systems environmental authorities had previously established, according to court filings. Santich told employees to pump wastewater through the pipe and not tell anyone about it, the plea agreement said.
For several years, neither state nor federal federal authorities caught on.
But in 2023, the vinegary-smelling water caught the attention of state inspectors from the Department of Environmental Services, who saw it flowing from the Old Dutch Mustard property into the Souhegan River.
'Santich, who was present at the NH DES inspection, attempted to explain away the obvious wastewater discharges at the top of the hill with the false representation that it was only a failed attempt to plant mustard seed there,' the plea agreement said.
After discovering the pipe, federal authorities did a dye test showing the water from the pipe was ending up in the river. The penalties for the violation can include a maximum prison term of three years, a fine of up to $50,000 per day of violation or up to $250,000, and the court can also order Santich to pay restitution. Those consequences could be lowered since Santich took responsibility for the crime, according to the plea agreement.
Sentencing is scheduled for June 23.
This story first appeared in Globe NH | Morning Report, our free newsletter focused on the news you need to know about New Hampshire, including great coverage from the Boston Globe and links to interesting articles from other places. If you'd like to receive it via e-mail Monday through Friday,
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Amanda Gokee can be reached at