Million jars of peanut butter dumped in New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico — Nearly a million jars of untainted peanut butter are being dumped at a New Mexico landfill.

The $2.6 million worth of peanut butter is being hauled to a landfill this week to expedite the sale of the bankrupt Sunland Inc., the peanut-processing plant in Portales that was at the heart of a 2012 salmonella outbreak and nationwide recall.

Bankruptcy trustee Clarke Coll says the peanut butter was produced for Costco Wholesale before the plant shut last fall. But Costco refused to take shipment of the product, and it declined requests to let it be donated to food banks or repackaged or sold to brokers who provide food products to institutions like prisons even though tests showed it was safe.

Costco officials did not return phone calls seeking comment. But court records show the peanut butter was rejected by Costco because of leaky peanut oil.