A New York resident and his company, Old Dutch Mustard Co., have admitted to discharging acidic water into the Souhegan River without a permit. Charles Santich, 59, along with Old Dutch Mustard Co., Inc., also known as Pilgrim Foods, pleaded guilty in federal court to violating the Clean Water Act (CWA). U.S. District Court Judge Landya McCafferty has set sentencing for June 23, 2025.
The CWA prohibits the discharge of pollutants into U.S. navigable waters without a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. Old Dutch Mustard has been under scrutiny for CWA non-compliance since the 1980s, facing multiple enforcement actions by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and New Hampshire state authorities. These agencies mandated continuous monitoring of a brook near the facility that leads to the Souhegan River—a designated natural resource in New Hampshire.
Santich owns Old Dutch Mustard, which operates out of Greenville, New Hampshire. The company produces vinegar and mustard products that result in acidic wastewater categorized as a pollutant under the CWA. Without proper permits, they were required to store this wastewater and hire services to transport it to treatment facilities.
In spring 2015, Santich employed an excavation company to install a pipe from their facility directing acidic wastewater toward the Souhegan River via an abandoned railroad bed—an area not covered by mandatory environmental monitoring.
Employees at Old Dutch Mustard were instructed by Santich to pump wastewater through this concealed pipeline and not disclose its existence.
State inspectors discovered evidence of this illicit discharge in May 2023 when they observed vinegar-smelling wastewater flowing into the river from a ditch on Old Dutch's property. EPA agents confirmed these findings during an August 2023 search warrant execution when they detected low pH liquid emanating from an underground pipe leading into the ditch.
The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division with support from state environmental services and legal offices. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew T. Hunter and Trial Attorney Ronald A. Sarachan are handling prosecution efforts alongside EPA Senior Regional Criminal Enforcement Counsel Dianne G. Chabot.
