FOLLOW US

A Massachusetts bottler of Pepsi products has agreed to pay nearly $500,000 toward a regional water restoration project and $100,000 in costs to the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) to settle allegations that its plant polluted nearby waterways with harmful discharge and runoff.

The proposed Pepsi CLF Pollution settlement, filed Monday in Massachusetts federal court, comes after a year-long legal battle between Patriot Beverages LLC and its parent company CPF Inc. and the environmental advocacy group.

While the companies did not admit wrongdoing, the deal requires Patriot and CPF to upgrade their pollution control systems, enhance monitoring and reporting protocols, and comply with stringent water quality standards. PepsiCo Inc. itself is not a party to the litigation.

CLF’s Pollution Allegations

The CLF sued the Littleton-based bottler last year, accusing it of violating the Clean Water Act by failing to properly monitor and control wastewater and stormwater from its bottling facility.

According to the lawsuit, those failures allowed phosphorus, aluminum, suspended solids, and other pollutants to reach levels up to 900% higher than legal limits in local waterways — a claim Patriot continues to dispute.

The CLF further alleged that Patriot violated the terms of its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit and ignored prior warnings, prompting the group to file suit.

Under the Clean Water Act, private citizens and organizations like CLF can pursue enforcement actions against alleged polluters.

The $485,000 Restoration Project

The proposed agreement includes a $485,000 contribution to OARS Inc., an environmental organization tasked with monitoring and improving water quality in northern Massachusetts rivers and streams.

The funding will support projects in collaboration with the Nashobah Praying Indians, who will oversee volunteer-based sampling, restoration efforts, and public education initiatives about water pollution and conservation.

The five-year settlement also bars the bottler from claiming tax deductions for any costs related to compliance and mandates continuous data sharing with regulators and CLF.

Court Oversight and Mediation

The deal was reached in June 2025 after months of mediation under U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Collings and was later reviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Patriot must now notify CLF of any future changes to its discharge permit, provide progress reports on infrastructure upgrades such as filtration systems, and maintain the pollution control measures established during the litigation.

Representation and Next Steps

CLF is represented by Ameya Gehi and Heather A. Govern of the Conservation Law Foundation.
Patriot Beverages and CPF are represented by Jessica A. Wall, Christina Marshall, and Carlos R. Rosende of Anderson & Kreiger LLP.

The court will now review the proposed settlement for final approval — a step that could officially close one of Massachusetts’ most closely watched environmental enforcement cases of the year.