Is chicken plant right for Cumberland County
Published July 19, 2014
Editorial by Fayetteville Observer, July 17, 2014.
A giant slaughterhouse processing a million-plus chickens a week may not be what Cumberland County officials had in mind when they created a 485-acre industrial park on Cedar Creek Road.
But that may be what we get if the country's third-largest poultry producer decides to set up shop here. In a county that has set its sights on diversifying its economy and decreasing its dependence on Pentagon budgets, a chicken plant surely broadens the economic base.
It's also not at all what our elected leaders had in mind when they talked about diversity. But when opportunity knocks, it often is a stranger. It's the first serious possibility for the still-empty industrial site created more than a decade ago.
Sanderson Farms is a poultry processor with plants across the country. Here in North Carolina, its chickens are sold under the Harris Teeter label, among others. The company ran into controversy a few years ago when it wanted to build a similar plant in Nash County. The reception was beyond frosty: Nearby Wilson sued to keep Sanderson out. The company dropped its plans. It also has run a plant in Kinston since 2010. It processes 1.25 million chickens a week there, employs 1,600 people and runs a feed mill and hatcheries. It also supports a network of about 500 chicken growers over a four- or five-county area.
That's what could happen here. The jobs aren't the middle-class opportunities that our politicians and economic developers have sought - pay for most workers is expected to be around $10 an hour. But they still are jobs, in a region that lacks them. And the plant would spur the creation of more jobs in hard-pressed rural areas as farms open chicken houses to feed the processing plant.
There are concerns about the plant and the industry that need addressing. Foremost are environmental considerations. Sanderson uses on-site treatment plants to cleanse the large quantities of water used in processing, and then uses spray fields to dispose of the treated water. The Kinston plant has a state permit for 1.4 million gallons of wastewater a day. It hasn't received any violation notices. But what is the impact on a river and groundwater already loaded with agricultural runoff? And what about the environmental issues that come with disposal of waste from those 500 chicken houses? Are state regulations up to the task of protecting our water supply? Are our roads up to the large volume of truck traffic?
Time for some public discussion of those questions. Let's make sure this is really a good fit for Cumberland County.
