What's that smell? Some fun facts about having a hog slaughter house and CAFOS in your area
The odor from a large hog slaughtering plant and the concentrated hog raising facilities it is expected to attract is apparent as far as 5 miles away. A 5 mile radius around the proposed location of the Triumph Hog Slaughtering plant shows that, depending on which way the wind blows, people in Iowa, the entire towns of East Moline and Silvis, Colona/Green Rock, and even Rapid City, as well as the east side of Moline might be reminded of their new neighbor in a dis-stink-tly unpleasant way.
And what a surprise. Guess who owns the land where the proposed plant would be located. Riverstone Group, Inc. And another big shock. The developers want tax breaks from the city. Imagine that.
Triumph Foods LLC announced Thursday it wants to build a $135 million to $140 million pork-processing plant in East Moline at 172nd Street North and Barstow Road. The proposed plant initially would create 350 jobs, and as many as 1,000 jobs within a few years.[Note: The stench would greet travellers on I-80, I-5/88, and I-74]
East Moline aldermen will hold a public informational session about the proposed plant at 4:30 p.m. Monday at United Township High School, 1725 Avenue of the Cities, East Moline.
The city council meeting will follow at 6:30 p.m., where aldermen will discuss the proposed redevelopment agreement with Triumph, which calls for the city to create a tax-increment finance district for the proposed site. RiverStone Group Inc., of Moline, owns the land where the proposed plant would be built.
The speakers encouraged residents to keep holding public meetings and to hold them with city officials present.
"They are accountable and they work for you," Karen Hudson, a farmer and president of Families Against Rural Messes, FARM, said to the group. "Their job is to answer to you, the constituents."
Molly Regan, PACG environmental facilitator and commissioner for the Scott County Soil and Water Conservation District, said the waste from pigs contains hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, which causes extreme health hazards for children.
The air quality would not just affect residents, but she said it also would affect tourism.
"People will smell this everywhere in the Quad-Cities," Ms. Regan said.John Beydler has some thoughts on the matter as well.
Carolyn Muir, of Milan, said she and her neighbors are already smelling waste from a nearby confinement facility. Last month, 2,400 feeder pigs were delivered to a new "concentrated animal feeding operation," or CAFO, hog facility eight-tenths of a mile west from Reynolds, she said.
"It's not good for the pigs, it's not good for the workers and it's not good for the neighbors," Mrs. Muir, who is president of Families Against Animal Confinement Threats, or FAACT, said.
Mrs. Hudson said two large livestock facilities built in Knox and Peoria counties were promised to be non-polluting, "state-of-the-art" facilities.
A livestock facility built in Knox County in 1996 produced manure over the years that ended up killing fish in a local stream. Manure and urine from its lagoons also were being "pivot irrigated in 40 mile-per-hour winds," she said. The Illinois Attorney General issued a $50,000 fine on the factory, she said.
A large-scale dairy farm in Peoria County left neighbors sleeping with perfume or candles next to their beds, according to Mrs. Hudson.
"We don't have enough people on staff to (enforce) the Illinois Clean Water Act, and that's the bottom line," Mrs. Hudson said.
Mr. Spence, who operates and owns a livestock farm in Unionville, Mo., said he has worked on litigation against a pork producer/processor in his area.
The company produces 2 million hogs and has its own slaughterhouse, Mr. Spence said. The plant originally hired local workers before turning to immigrant workers from Texas and California, he said.
But hiring immigrant workers has created problems, he said. The local hospital could close because the workers are uninsured and the school district is also struggling with loss of tax revenues, he said.
"People just like you sitting in this room across the country -- we are the only ones than can (bring) democracy," Mr. Spence said to the group. "We are the only voice that's left."
During a question-and-answer session, Bob Imler, vice president of community and government relations for RiverStone, told the group that the land has not been sold. The city of East Moline holds a first option to buy the land.
posted by The Inside Dope @ 12/04/2005
19 comments
19 Comments:
Come on Dope, I normally really respect the stuff you write, but you're being quite biased on this one. You say that CAFO's smell for 5 miles, which I certainly believe, but then you show a radius around the pork processing plant, which is not a CAFO, and won't have a 5 mile smell radius. Even just you calling it a slaughtering plant or hog factory shows that you've already made up your mind about it. You want people whose initial reaction is positive to question the project and try to see both sides, but you don't seem to be doing that at all. Its quite possible the plant won't smell even 5 blocks away, and that no new CAFOs will pop up around here. Doing this GOP-style bait and switch of talking about CAFOs and then suddenly changing to talking about the pork processing plant is really starting to bug me.
There are real issues to debate about this project; there's no need for propaganda.
Boy, nothing gets by you QCI. You even noticed I do have an opinion on this. And what's your definition of propaganda? Providing only facts to support one side of an issue, lying or distortion?
I've done none of that.
I think what you're demanding is the right down the middle, "The Earth is Flat, Views Differ" style of blather which makes cable news so enlightening.
If you want down the middle, all sides are equal stuff, I'm not sure where to tell you to go. I personally can't think of a single blog or news source that doesn't have a certain point of view.
I suppose local papers come closest to neutral, and I quoted almost an entire article from the paper, including the only pro-hog factory part of it, which was the number of jobs they project will be created.
But really, I'm pretty surprised at your shock that I have a point of view.
The slaughterhouse (yes, sorry you feel that's somehow naughty to call it that, but that's what it is) will stink, the thing will attract CAFOs, and so why sit and debate make-believe assumptions that it might end up being a Disneyworld on the prairie?
Your novel suggestion that despite mountains of evidence and experience with these types of operations in other locations, that maybe, somehow, THIS enormous hog slaughtering operation will magically NOT be like every other huge hog slaughtering operation before it, is charming in a way. Don't ever change.
If you have something postitive to say about this proposed plant or facts to support it, chime in. Debate away.
Balance out my opinion. Prove me wrong. I'm wide open.
Otherwise, if you're looking value-neutral reporting, this ain't the place. I'm sure it's out there somewhere. If you find it, be sure to let us know.
There are things to debate about this. So far, all you've done is complain about the fact that I have a point of view.
If you want to debate, debate.
My problem was mostly the 5 mile radius picture. Confusing people as to whether this proposal is for a CAFO or for a pork processing plant is the other thing I didn't like. I have no problem with you coming out and saying you're against it, although I wish you'd wait to see what they claim they'll do to mitigate the negatives. I'm no huge fan of pork plants, and if it turns out that there will be a smell for a mile around, I'll be on your side in a blink of an eye. I just think 1000 or even 350 jobs is something we at least have to consider. I also don't see how allowing the pork plant means we need to allow CAFOs. Those are a matter for our county boards, which we elect.
I have a suggestion for Sen Mike Jacobs, Mayor Thodos, and also his close neighbor, our new Mayor Welvert in Moline....
Welvaert lives within a mile of them (Welvert almost in the East Moline city limits - even votes at an East Moline precinct).
When the smell of the hog plant gets really bad, maybe Mike can pull out some of those Asian carp patties he will get from his buddy at Shaffers and the three of em can fry up some fish to drown out the smell of them thar hogs down the street!
The neighborhood meetings in that end of the QCA should get real interesting in a couple years if this thing goes through....
Did you read in the paper that Thom Hart was saying, apparently with a straight face, that after the hog plant was built that area could expect the same sort of growth and development (and rising property values) that the 53rd street area in Davenport did after the exit on I74 was created? I am sure that people looking for a place to locate a strip mall or a restaurant will think that right next to a hog processing plant is the perfect place. Give me a break.
And did you catch Barb Ickes column in the Times? She said Mayor Thodos' pants must be on fire. A few months ago, during the annexation hearing he claimed not to know anything any plans to build a hog processing plant or anything else on the land East Moline was about to annex. Yeah, right!
Fair enough QCI.
I didn't think I'd conflated the two, hog processing plant and CAFOs, at least not to state that CAFO's are being planned, though I may not have been clear enough.
I still feel confident that CAFOs definitely will begin to spring up in the area, though where is of course unknown.
These CAFO operations have become corporate business. No longer is there Farmer Jones and his farm, it's some investment group plopping a big high-tech facility down, preferably very quietly and where no one will raise much of a fuss, and raising hogs in an environment straight out of science fiction. It truly is a hog factory.
And the fact remains that if they do start appearing, there will likely be no stopping them. Why invite the posibility to begin with?
The jobs angle is the only benefit to any of this that I can see. And yes, it deserves it's proper weight in the equation. But there's also the fact that, based on other examples, including the decades long existence of IBP/Tyson's in Joslin, these jobs may not exactly be a great boon.
The turn-over is enormous, as the work is simply brutal and mind-numbing. The majority of these jobs are held by immigrants attracted from the asia, latin american countries, and elsewhere which flock to the area from other areas of the country with large immigrant populations.
These companies simply want someone to do this dirty work, and they're not too picky about who does it. As a matter of fact, several companies resort to active recruitment of both legal and illegal immigrants in order to find enough warm bodies to do the jobs. The work isn't exactly a career move, in other words.
It attracts a large amount of new immigrants, both legal and illegal, who will literally do anything for money and survival, and who, compared to the extreme poverty they came from, consider these dream jobs. (And there certainly are enough Americans in desperate need of money as well.)
They compose their own sort of sub-culture and don't assimilate into the community to any large degree and end up putting serious strains on local law enforcement and social services. There's been a lot of violence and crime stemming from these workers coming into the area.
It may be honest work, but very few of the positions will be the sort that someone could expect to do for many years, and most positions are so brutal and ugly that many resort to drugs or alchohol and gradually turn animal-like themselves.
These observations are based on experience, and the human and social side of this issue should not be ignored simply because of the mention of the magic word "jobs".
It's not like there's going to be a bunch of young men out there making a career and supporting their new family and paying a mortgage. It's simply not like that.
I've reached my quota for thinking about hog slaughterhouses for the moment. Forgive me.
But thanks for clarifying your views and adding to the debate.
This is a Mike Jacobs quote from a Barb Ickes' column today regarding the plant:
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Jacobs said those opposed to the plant have nothing to worry about.
“People don’t have a conception of what the plant is,” he said. “I think they’ll be pleasantly surprised.
“Is it going to cause some people some problems?” he said. “Yes, it will.
“I wouldn’t want it in my back yard, either,” he added. “But would I purchase property where I knew this could happen? No.”
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I'm sure that's what people who bought houses out there 20-30 years ago want to hear, that *he* wouldn't buy land where *he* knew this could happen. When my aunt moved out there 40 years ago she should have seen this coming.
I have a great deal of respect for Denny Jacobs but I have to wonder what the hell was he thinking appointing his son to this seat. Hopefully it's Paul Rumler and not a Republican, but all a person would have to do is parade that quote around Barstow and the Gardentrack/Babcock area of East Moline to win those areas.
Somehow I screwed up that link, and it's from an older Ickes column. I had too many articles about this up at once, my bad.
Here is the correct link.
Yeah, when I read that quote I just shook my head.
Your last comment was great Dope, all of those things are the same concerns I have. I could easily see 75 or 80 percent of the workforce being immigrants, but I'm undecided on whether that's a bad thing, assuming that they're here legally. Maybe I should take a QCI trip down to the other plant they built/are building and investigate. Of course, its December, and there's no time for anything, so it won't happen.
I just have this feeling that the smell won't be as bad as people think, or else bringing this plant will make the Davenport council's political suicide over the stormwater fee look like a political pinch. The Mayor that turned EM into Smellytown would have a hard time getting reelected.
Yeah,,, cuz the peeple of barstove relly vot hehehe
Pigs don't vote.
If they did not vote before they sure have a reason to now! Nothing like anger to get folks out to the polls.. Look at 9/11 and the rush of bigots who came out to support our "War prez".
A few things I've heard from usually reliable sources. 1) The plant will be Union. 2) The land on which the plant will be built was high and dry during the '93 flood although the entrance road was not. 3) The reason for pre-announcemnt secrecy was that Triumph was finalizing contracts with area hog farmers and was afraid the price would escalate if the word got out. 4) The company has contracted for all the hogs it needs so more hog farms are probably not likely. 5) The process is much more automated than Tyson at Joslin and only about 100 workers will be slaughtering and cutting; the rest will be packaging. That said, I've always wondered: Why is it the people who have built in the floodplain who complain the loudest when someone else wants to build in the floodplain - or in this case what they perceive to be floodplain?
You must not deal with the same IEPA and USEPA that I do. Is there another EPA? Don't take my word for it. Ask anyone who has oversight of a manufacturing facility. They will tell you that both USPEA and IEPA have greatly reduced the amount of allowable emissions to air, water and land.
Puzzler - I don't buy it for a minute. I have driven past the Mariah pack plant in Monmouth on a warm day and smelled it in the late 80s and early 90s when they were still killin hogs right in the middle of town....
Some oversight by that craker jack IEPA alright. Might as well tell em to do whatever they want with no regulations. Peeeewwwwww!!!
Stink does not equal pollution. Just because something smells bad doesn't mean it's toxic. When you drive down the road and smell a skunk, do you assume you're breathing toxic vapors? Transversely, many extremely toxic substances have no odor. So beware when you smell nothing!
Right you are, oh puzzling one.
Reminds me of mosquitos. They say that only male mosquitos make a buzzing sound, but only female mosquitos bite. So watch out if you hear nothing.
But while smell might not equal toxic, it's a pretty damn good warning flag. I can think of a lot of things that stink really bad, and, let me tell ya, I don't think breathing, eating, or otherwise coming in close contact with any of them would be too healthy.
A horrible smell is kind of nature's way of telling you to get the hell away from something.
And, while your point may be true, though flimsy, as it happens, it may not be true, at least in the case of CAFO's, which may or may not be built in the area.
They most certainly do produce thousands of gallons of decidedly toxic waste, and they've caused the deaths of many creeks, streams, and rivers by causing algae blooms and otherwise suffocating them.
Ms. Nature is well equipped to process animal waste, but I don't think she anticipated having hundreds of thousands of gallons of it all concentrated in one place. She just can't handle that too well.
I absolutely agree. Large hog confinemenets, or any production facility that generates a certain volume of waste, should be regulated and inspected regularly. Unfortunately, over the years the ag lobby has been very successful in limiting government oversight of anything agricultural. For instance, a building permit is not required to construct an ag building. And the definition of ag is very broad and includes businesses like landscape nurseries in ag zones. Hog confinements are treated as ag operations and can legally be built in any ag zoning. In my opinion, huge hog confinements are not ag operations and should not be treated as such.
How puzzling, puzzler. You say the EPA is a good regulator but yet you now say hog ops can build any kind of ag building they want in a ag zone....
Sounds to me like they are going to do what they want without any real checks and balances and that smells!
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