The Maryland Department of the Environment and Fleischmann’s Vinegar have reached a $1.1 million settlement over water pollution violations from the company’s Baltimore facility, MDE officials announced Wednesday.

The state began investigating the company after receiving complaints from Blue Water Baltimore in 2021 after a fish kill and other water quality issues in the Jones Falls waterway near the vinegar plant. Blue Water Baltimore announced its intention to sue the company in January 2023, then it and the state sued the company in April 2023 over the pollution.

The Maryland Department of the Environment conducted dye testing on two different occasions to confirm that leaked or spilled liquids could reach the waterway from interior drains, MDE said. Blue Water and the company have already reached a settlement in another federal lawsuit, and the Baltimore vinegar facility has since closed, according to MDE.

“Our office will not allow companies to put our delicate environment in jeopardy,” Attorney General Anthony Brown said in a statement. “These terms will help keep our waterways clean and monitor the Jones Falls so it is not contaminated with harmful pollutants.”

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In January, Fleischmann’s shut down the facility in Baltimore and removed all of the stored vinegar and production equipment and materials from the facility, state officials said.

“We appreciate the fact that this company has been a part of Baltimore’s fabric for generations, but pollution from the now-closed facility harms the ecosystem in one of the city’s major waterways,” MDE Secretary Serena McIlwain said in a statement.

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Other requirements of the consent decree included required weekly testing along the Jones Falls near the facility (and additional penalties if additional pollution is detected); investigation by the company to eliminate a source of pollution not previously identified; and an investigation into possible sources of discharge and remediation, including the potential demolition of the North Baltimore facility.

Representatives for Fleischmann’s and its parent company, Kerry, could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday evening.