Q-CAT website aids groups efforts to educate public on Triumph hog plant
Q-CAT, or Quad Cities Citizens against Triumph, has put up an extensive website with everything you'd ever want to know about the effects of hog plants such as the proposed Triumph plant near Barstow, and a ton of articles and links to articles and information.
Their mission statement reads:
Welcome to the Q-CAT (Quadcities Citizens Against Triumph) website! We’re glad you’re here!
To give you a little background…we are a recently formed group of citizens just like you from throughout the Quad Cities, both the Illinois and Iowa sides of the Mississippi, who are against the building of a hog plant in this area by Triumph Foods. “Why,” you might ask, are we against something that appears to be good for the community?
“Appears” is the operative word here. Things are not as they appear…and that’s where we come in. In fact, that’s the reason we started Q-CAT in the first place – to educate the public about this vitally important issue and enlist its help in stopping Triumph from building here.
We’ve done our homework and can say with all manner of confidence that there are about a dozen good reasons why Triumph should not build here…starting with the fact that the proposed site is in a 100-year floodplain and on top of a wetland that’s a feeding and nesting ground to Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons and many other species of birds, not to mention the imposition of a 237% increase in water and sewer rates for the residents of East Moline. “Why is that?” you ask.
Well, you’ll find the answer to that question…and a whole lot more on this website. Again, welcome. You’ve come to the right place. Like we’ve said before, we believe the people call the shots, not corporations.
Whether you're for or against the plant, you should give it a look and try to read some of what's available (there's so damn much that it would be hard to try to wade through it all). You'll certainly come away with some information and facts which you might otherwise never be aware of.
Needless to say, this is a group with a definite position, but it's worth looking through what they provide on the site and making your own judgement on this important issue.
A link to the page is added to the blogroll for future reference.
posted by The Inside Dope @ 12/02/2006
71 comments
71 Comments:
Why is this blog getting so stupid? Nobody is opposed to the pig plant or else Mike Boland wouldn't have run up such a big number in the area where he is puttting the pig plant!
The world isn't dictated by vote counts and politics. Sometimes reality is quite different and to try to connect a position on the hog plant to vote counts is silly at best, especially when Boland was silent about his position on the hog plant and it most certainly wasn't part of his campaign.
You're trying to connect non-existant dots I'm afraid.
A vote for Boland wasn't necessarily a vote for the Triumph plant. To suggest that was the case is simply stupid.
It's silly to even suggest, as Haring was definitely for the plant. He lost. By your terribly flawed reasoning, doesn't that mean that the people of the area rejected the hog plant?
In that respect, it may well be you who is being stupid, not this blog.
The peole are for the plant. You can see that there is a small vocal minority that doesn't want fresh pork. We will have great pork. Coul Jim's Ribs be even better than they already are? Now that would be worth everything.
You know what... Instead of a hog plant. They should build another Walmart, that way we can give people minimum wage jobs, instead of $10-$12 an hour jobs at a pork processing plant.
Bysides we don't want "those" jobs. We much perfer Walmart!!!
I read in the paper about RI losing money due to a reduction of children at the district. This will hurt them really bad. I recently talked to the East Moline super and he told me that the potential infux of new students aassociated with the pig plant would help because of declining enrollment.
Jims gets their pork somewhere else and it tastes just fine.
I think that argument for the plant takes the all time biggest stretch award.
I would like to thank the Inside Dope for posting our site.
I just ask that people look over our web site, especially look at the area photos of the site before you decide. Then make your decision if this industry should be located here. I also would like to add that Q-CAT members have collected over 1200 sworn affidavits of people in the area that oppose this plant location. They are demanding that an Environmental Impact Statement be done before proceeding any further. Ask yourself why the powers that be don't want this done? It would show the environmental damage that will occur if it is built on this location. Think about this, 2.7 million gallons of water use a day, 244 semis a day, 2.4 million gallons of water discharge to our rivers a day. Iowa is losing 2143 small hog farmers a year. N.C. had 27,000 small hog farmers before Smithfield Slaughterhouse opened. Now there is none. Please read the Robert F. Kennedy Jr., letter on the main page. This site is to preserve our small farmers, our environment for future generations and Illinois Wetlands. Ask yourself after looking this site over, why would they build here on Illinois Wetlands. Free taxpayers money from TIFF incentives, read Empire of the Pigs on the site and you will get your answer. Corp. greed not need.
Please go to our web site and fill out an EIS demand to protect your environment for your children's future and future generations to come.
Q-CAT Member
Thanks to the Inside Dope for bringing Q-CAT to the public. The PEOPLE that live here in the QC need to know the repercusions of bringing this hog INDUSTRY to our area. The city of East Moline is NOT being a good neighbor by subjecting thousands of people to all of the environmental hazards that will come IF the slaughterhouse is built. Please take some time to look at the information at this site and ask yourself WHY hasn't any of this info been presented to the public by the local media and the Council of East Moline so that the people of this area can fully understand the nightmare that will follow Triumph Foods to the QC.
This pork plant has been labelled as the largest pork processing plant in the world. Smithfield Foods has a plant in North Carolina that processes 32,000 hogs a day which is twice the amount Triumph has said it will process in one day. Are we being duped? East Moline is voting on a TIF ditrict for Triumph on Monday December 4th that is over twice the size of the projected pork plant. Who would want to operate a business next to a hog slaughterhouse? Will Tiumph expand to over 32,000 hogs a day? Kiss the QC quality of life goodbye.
When someone comes up to you and asks you to sign a petition it is something that everyone signs. It doesn't mean that they are for it. All that it means is thet they want you to go away and leave you alone. The pig haters live within nose distance to the city dump. These people should have to go.
Wow. You sign petitions when you don't know what you're signing? You're too timid to tell them no?
I feel sorry for you.
Wow. You sign petitions when you don't know what you're signing? You're too timid to tell them no if you don't want to support the petition??
I feel sorry for you.
I don't think most people are like that.
The truth is that most people say no to a petition before they even know what it's about. That happens far more often.
The fact so many signatures would seem to show that there are very many people who oppose the tax measures.
I signed the petition fully knowing what it said. I do want Triumph Foods to just go away. I love fishing the Rock river with my husband if Triumph comes that will be a thing of the past
I lived in the proposed area , I saw first hand how that field floods.If they fill that in and build , The people that live in East lawn will have a foot of water in their homes instead of 6 inches when it floods.I believe a flood plain should be left a flood plain. Thanks to all of those from Q-cat for getting this info out .They have put a lot of time and money into this fight.
This whole issue of bringing the Triumph Foods hog plant to our area should have been squashed from day one. Who is behing this? Mayor Thodos of East Moline. Yeah, let's see who's on Triumph's payroll after he DOESN'T get re-elected in April of "09". My bet is that Thodos isn't smart enough to even work for that corporation.
This is all about "corporate greed" and "Corporate Welfare"
This industry rapes counties, cities, and states for millions of dollars, and brings nothing more than poverty level paying jobs that noone locally wants anyhow. Look at the history of slaughterhouses. Their turnover rate is some 100-150% every single year. Come on East Moline... We deserve better than another slaughterhouse in our area. So much for all the tourism that the Quad Cities has been building for the past decade. We can forget about it. We'll just be known as the "Hog Capitol of the World" Thanks Hart, Thodos, Keehner and Rick Hoffman!
By the way, I love your responses INSIDE DOPE !
Very smart.
Clarification
Please go to the EIS page and read. These are not petitions!
They are a sworn affidavit that each person fills out themselves as to how they feel this slaughterhouse will affect their environment and quality of life. They are demanding that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)be done. These affidavits are all notorized by a licensed notary public and are a legal document that has been approved by the Sierra Club and Waterkeepers legal departments.
This needs to be done to protect the public and the environment in the event that Triumph Foods builds here and their is damage to their environment or quality of life later. Every person has to read this document completely to undestand how to fill it out. These affidavits will show the courts that you used due diligence in trying to stop this from happening should there be damage later to your quality of life. Each and every one that is filled out makes you a potential plaintiff in the event their is damage to your quality of life later on. These affidavits will be submitted to the
USACE,IDNR,IEPA,FEPA,and several others as required during the permit stage of Triumph Foods.
This is not a petition drive. This is a demand that our environment be considered first before they build. Everyone should want this done.
Thank You and feel free to contact us on the web site if you have any questions.
www.q-cat
Hey way to go Q-Cat and Inside Dope for getting the word out about Factory Farms and the Hog processing industry. I live within two miles of the proposed Triumph plant. It isn't even built yet and I have already seen a reduction in my ten year old homes market value. I stand to lose a life time of labor income invested in what was to be my retirement home.
I do not want to give up my water, air and quality of life so that Triumph can increase their profits.
Remember folks, that is what they're after.
GB
I was with you Art until you said . . . .
"These affidavits will show the courts that you used due diligence in trying to stop this from happening should there be damage later to your quality of life. Each and every one that is filled out makes you a potential plaintiff in the event their is damage to your quality of life later on."
I am all for questioning the reasoning behind giving incentives to a corporation to build a hog plant so near to the Quad Cities, and for fighting to protect wildlands.
But it appears you are interested in future litigation and I want nothing of that. Your affidavits are just a tool for later legal action and that's not my interest at all Art. I want the plant to be discussed and debated and I want a safe environment. I'm not about digging up extra work for lawyers.
Sorry, ya lost me! You are just muddying the waters yourself with this thinly disguised attempt at hedging some kind of personal profit from a potential environmental problem.
You stink just like the pigs!
What a great website. This is all information that we of the Quad Cities needs to know. Obviously the Dispatch/Argus does not care to inform it's readers on the downfalls of this industry. Everyone in needs to be told of this website so please tell your friends. Thank you so much for this information. NO TO THE HOG PLANT!
I am writing this knowing that if Thodos, city council, Hoffman; was having this Hog Plant being built in their back yards, it wouldn't be built. Why can't the city of East Moline get honest council members and let them vote the way their citizens have told them, many times....Thodos told them he wanted a unanimous vote, and a few of them felt intimidated so went along....great bunch runing E.M.
The pigs are coming and no one on this stupid web log are going to stop Triumph, Mayor Thodos and Rep. Mike Boland from bringing it to our area. The support letters are written, the EPA has done their studies and found none of the frequently imaginary horribles will happen. As well they noted that the city dump is less than a mile away from the Barstrow site.
I don't know why these poor fools are so against progress. I am sure John Deere faced the same type of thing when he brought his factory to the Quad Cities. Instead of criticizing those who are creating opportunity, these people should be praising those who dare to move the Illinois quad cities forward.
Who do thse wacky enviromentalist think they are to try and chase away 2,000 good jobs? Where do you creatins work?
Well pro-pig, you must be creatin' new words because there's no such word as creatin.
But if you gave it any thought at all, I suppose you'd figure out that those opposed to the plant work somewhere other than the non-existent pig slaughterhouse. And you might figure out that they really don't want to work there either.
There's real world evidence that most people who will work there won't be from this area or even this country. I'm sure you won't be working knee deep in gore yourself either.
pro-pig
how about we spread a little truth along with your disinformation campaign , , ,
Boland has little or nothing to do with bringing Triumph to the area, why the constant attempts to smear him?
We ALL KNOW Mike Jacobs used his father's contacts at DCEO and worked with Thodos to get these state incentives, why point the finger at Boland?
Because Boland signed a key "support" letter for the project. To act as if Boland didn't is plain rediculous!
You hit the pig on the snout ro-pig. The real pigs are the ones trying to dance away from their role in bringing us all these low wage, non-tech jobs.
East Moline Resident . . .
To: Pro Pig
Gain some intelligence before speaking to those of us, including "Art" and "Porky", whom have done months and months of research on how devastating the hog industry is on cities, counties and states all over this country. It'll no doubt be people like yourself that will complain one - two years after Triumph Foods builds here in our area, about all the negative impacts that have come along with the hog plant.
Citizens who are concerned with the environment are far better than those who sit back and do nothing to preserve our environment. If you'd read some of the links that Q-CAT but on their website www.q-cat.org you'd read how disaterous this hog industry truly is. Col. Rick Dove, from Waterkeeper Alliance, has written a report and stood before Congress to plead for more stringent laws regarding the hog industry. He lives in North Carolina and is an avid fisherman, and highly intelligent. He is a lawyer and served in the Vietnam War. He is to be praised for all his volunteer work in this country. He DOES NOT lie! He came to East Moline twice this year, didn't accept any money from the Quad Cities, and spoke publicly about his experience with the hog plant near New Bern, NC. He has seen all the fish kills in the Neuse River first hand. He tests the River continually. He's involved in lawsuits against the hog industry and he's supporting our effor to stop Triumph Foods from building in our community. He's a man who will change your mind about how the hog plant will affect your quality of life. His advise to us in the Quad Cities was such, "Do everything you can to stop them from building the hog plant here. Once they build their hog plant, you will have a life of misery the rest of your lives, fighting them!" "Stop them !" "Get a lawyer, and stop them!" Think about it, this man knows firsthand what devestation will come here. He knows and he's not afraid to tell you. He travels the U.S. educating communities who are fighting hog plants. So frankly, I don't care if Boland, Thodos, Denny Jacobs, Mike Jacobs, Rich Keehner, Thom Hart or whomever else thinks this hog plant is a good idea for our area, they don't know firsthand like Mr. Rick Dove does. They know absolutely nothing about the towns in this country who've had to endure the millions of hogs being raised 1/8 mile, 1/4 mile 2 miles, from their own home. They know nothing about having to keep pillows stuffed on their windows trying to keep the toxins and bad odors from hog manure out of their home. They've never tried to sell their home because a hog cafo or slaughterhouse is in close proximity. They don't care! That's the sad part. Whatever happened to "Love thy neighbor?" We should be looking for a better company to build there that is environmentally friendly. This is the absolute worst business that could build on that site.
to: Anonymous @ 8:43 Monday
You wrote to Artworks. "Sorry, ya lost me! You are just muddying the waters yourself with this thinly disguised attempt at hedging some kind of personal profit from a potential environmental problem." "You stink just like the
pigs!"
My comment to you is what kind of comment is that? What the heck? This man is doing what many of Quad City residents should be doing.....fighting for OUR environment. Our children's environment. The future generation's environment. What makes him a pig? I don't get what your angle is?
The point he was making is factual. Anyone who signed an EIS affidavit will, in fact, be able to join a class action lawsuit, IF THEY CHOSE TO, should Triumph Foods build here in our area and negatively impact their quality of life, their air quality, water quality, etc. It's not Mr. Norris looking out for himself or blowing smoke, it's the truth. We've put the City of East Moline on notice by attending all the council meetings on this hog plant issue and they've received numerous letters, documentation, research, etc. from many residents who've expressed major concerns on this hog plant. Why is that so hard for some of you to understand. This whole hog plant idea is SIMPLY WRONG ! Building any type of high-risk, extremely controversial industry on wetlands and a flood plain is INSANE. You should praise Mr. Norris and be very upset with the Mayor and the council that have rubber stamped this whole agreement w/Triumph from day one. It's wrong! It's ridiculous and it's most likely going to be getting the City of East Moline sued in the near future. How can you justify NOT wanting an Environmental Impact Statement done on this project? They do one in IL if they're looking at building a shopping mall or highway! Why haven't they done one on this project? Because it's so politically driven, that's why. I wonder whose pockets are being lined by Hoffman this time around??? It'll come out some day.
So Dope, what is your plan to attract 2,000 new jobs to our area?
Well, do you have a plan, or are you so $ich you don't have to worry about putting food on the table? You have a high poverty rate in Moline. Frankly, I know many looking forward to working in the new 100 million dollar office and factory. I hear some hope to get benefits, security and pay. While I am sure some will just want to work at Triumph for the good times. The notion that these jobs are "subhuman" is silly! Anyone who lived through the great depression would smile a wide grin upon hearing your asserstion.
Deere, Tennaco, Alcoa, Case, the Rock Island Lines, 3-M, and the R.I. Arsenal have polluted our rivers, lakes and streams for years, and now I am supposed to go all smokey the bear? Pleaze.
Be careful of those selling snake-oil!
Everyone knows that these groups get involved to raise money for their causes! And I am sure one of them is involved in this cause as well. Who among you is in it for the cash?
Anon 2:11
Your know-nothing cynicism is truly depressing. Nothing about your comment or your arguments can be taken seriously.
So now I'm supposed to have a plan to bring a bunch of jobs to the area or ..... I'm not allowed to oppose the hog plant?
That makes no sense.
If they want to build a cell tower in your living room, does that mean you have to figure out another place to put the tower or else shut up and accept it?
And people don't give a rat's ass about what the total cost of the building they work in may be. That's irrelevant as well.
You then suddenly pop up by saying that "The notion that these jobs are sub-human is silly!!"
Well, that may be. But where did you read that? If a commenter said that, I didn't catch it. I can assure you that I didn't say it.
And trying to argue for slaughterhouse jobs by suggesting people who suffered through the depression wouldn't think it was so bad... well... that's just pathetic.
Are we supposed to evaluate jobs now based on what desperate starving people will take? Is that where our area is right now? Have we sunk to desperation?
Your paragraph about the other industries which have polluted our area and fouled our water in the past is just plain stupid needless to say.
If turning the clock backwards towards dangerous levels of toxic chemicals being spewed into our water and air is your idea of progress, God help you.
And of course, the many people committed to preserving what land and water remains unspoiled and preventing a hog plant from turning the region into an industrial wasteland are only in it for the money.
And the promoters of the project.... aren't?
If anyone's slinging "snakeoil", it's you and the promoters of this plant who throw around "jobs" like it's a magic word that will automatically make everyone look the other way and not ask any questions.
Oooops. Didn't work this time.
Your entire post makes about as much sense as your writing that a lot of people will want to work at the slaughterhouse because of the "good times".
Sorry if the comment was meant as a sarcastic joke and I didn't pick up on it.
To: Anonymous @ 2:11 this morning.
WOW! I must say that you are most definitely highly medicated. . . If not, you should be getting some counseling.
Noone, that I have ever met, and there's been many, that have ever worked @ IBP, Tyson, or any other slaughterhouse, called it having a "good time". How foolish to even print that. My husband worked for IBP for 7 years, most of which was in management. He hated seeing animals slaughtered ALL DAY LONG. It's very depressing, the people there will verify that. This particular company, Triumph Foods, doesn't even offer health insurance, or any benefits for that matter, for 180 days (6 mths.). What corporation treats (mistreats) their employees like that?
In closing, your comment, "Everyone knows that these groups get involved to raise money for their causes! And I am sure one of them is involved in this cause as well. Who among you is in it for the cash?" is ignorant.
I belong to Q-CAT (Quadcities Citizens Against Triumph) and we've spent our own hard-earned money to pay for everything from traveling to Milan, Missouri to do a documentary on how a community is affected after a slaughterhouse has been there for a number of years, to printing our own brochures for the public awareness, to making DVD's to hand out. We've put out a lot of coin getting the national environmental organizations to travel to the Quad Cities to meet us and speak publicly about the negative impacts of slaughterhouses, etc. But, it was well worth it. We've gained not financially fighting Triumph, but a lot of great friends. We've not received any outside money from any organization as of yet. We hope to get some assistance should we go legal. But up until now, it's been local Quad City residents putting out their own money to fund all the opposition to this hog plant. It's doubtful that we'll gain financially, even if we go legal against the city of East Moline and/or Triumph Foods. Our goal is to stop the b_ _tards from even breaking ground. We just want our quality of life to remain in tact. If you don't think what we're fighting for, is worth the fight? Then, you don't deserve to stand on the ground you're on right now. It's called "freedom of speech" and we have the right in this country to fight for our rights.
We may not live in $300,000 homes, but we have a good life here in this area, and we don't expect to give it up because Thom Hart & John Thodos want a plaque on their wall for bringing in a big corporation.
I don't want no stinkin hog plant man!
Where is your plan to creat jobs Dope? Any fool can knock down a barn, it takes a day labor to know how to build one!
Anon 10:26
OK, how about bringing in a company which provides decent paying jobs and doesn't pollute the wetlands and rivers and doesn't require thousands of semi-trucks a day, doesn't mean there will be literally millions of hogs coming through the area, doesn't produce tons of animal feces and urine and other waste, doesn't attract almost exclusively immigrant labor and doesn't in turn attract huge mega-factory farms to the area?
That includes about a million different businesses. Pick one.
Like WIU, that's a good deal.
There's my plan.
What's yours? You're obviously short on ideas if a hog slaughter plant is the best you can do. What's next? A radioactive waste dump?
The article in the Times this morning concerning the TIF meeting at East Moline last evening says it all! "No council member asked any questions of the consultant" That has been the case at every meeting at East Moline concerning the Triumph project. It shows their "I don't give a sh-t" attitude, and "I am going to pass everything to bring this hog plant in regardless how it affects the 400 homes in the immediate area and despite how it will affect the Quad Cities' environment." If this comes in, it will be up to the taxpayers to pay the millions of dollars to clean up this environmental nightmare.
Only 42 people showed up to protest the pigs coming to Barstow. That is a very poor showing.
Building a university cost money --- it doesn't generate money. So far your plan has failed. What's next?
Only the fools in the QC's would people complain about 2,000 new jobs and $120 million in new economic development! Our area need an attidutde adjustment. Any fool can knock down a bar, but it takes union carpenters, brick layers and labors to build a $120 million factory!
pro pig,
The fault I'd note in your attitude is that it's exclusively short term. You don't give a moment's thought to what happens after the monstrosity is built and finished.
You're hypnotised by the magic word: jobs. It puts you to sleep and makes you get tunnel vision.
And if you think WIU won't provide jobs, both construction as well as long-term, you're sadly mistaken.
Government spending rools over 2 1/2 times. Private development rolls over 6 1/2 times. If you are unable to undertand that fact, you're sadly mistaken.
Your problem is the sames as Bush's, you don't understand basic economics!
The Dope is clearly not a college graduate or anthing such as that! He seems real dumb to people with college eeducations as well as those that finsihed hgigh school?
Uh... OK. Are you alright?
Anonymous said
Sorry, ya lost me! You are just muddying the waters yourself with this thinly disguised attempt at hedging some kind of personal profit from a potential environmental problem.
Obviously you don't know anything about the law and due diligence. Maybe I didn’t explain it well enough. Let's say that your property devaluates 70% of its present value as it has in many areas that have similar businesses like this move in next door. Let’s say you have a $100,000 dollar property and over night it is only worth only $30.000. So you file a lawsuit to recover your losses and go before a judge to present your loss. This is when you will become a plaintiff. The judge will ask you what due diligence did you do to try to stop this from happening. You say well I called alderman, I went to meetings, I read articles. He will say no, you don’t understand what evidence can you provide this court that you tried to stop this from happening? With these affidavits you will be able to say your honor I got a signed affidavit stating that I feared this would happen and I am entering it as an exhibit to substantiate my law suit. He will have to except it. These are to protect the property owner, the renter, whoever gets damaged from this industry destroying your quality of life. This has nothing to do with me.
I have never asked for donations. My gain is only the satisfaction of saving this beautiful area full of wildlife for the QC residents, our children, and future generations to come.
Feel free to write me with anymore questions you may have on our site. www.q-cat.org
Please protect yourself and your investment now by getting an affidavit to submit should you need to later.
Sincerely, Art
$120 million in economic development, my A$$. It'll cost ten times that just to clean up the mess!
Dope, you are a breath of fresh air. I am a member of Q-CAT and I apprecate this forum.
It's no big deal. I just think that there should be some place for people to look at both sides. The supporters have the papers to put out their views, and it seems to be pretty much..."jobs" and nothing beyond that. They certainly don't answer any of the many concerns raised about the plant, at least that I've seen.
I'm happy to provide a place for all sides to say their piece. Readers can make up their own minds.
Triumph Report Released
( Air Date: 8/2/2006 )
A clean bill of health for Triumph Foods following a recent city audit.
St. Joseph City Manager Vince Capell and staff have wrapped up an investigation into business practices at Triumph Foods.
The audit began in May and even included a visit to the plant.
According to a report released this week, everything checks out.
The report details everything from hiring practices to employee pay and privacy. It`s required by companies that receive Tax Increment Financing or TIF money.
Under such an agreement, Triumph agrees to comply with a number of requirements.
That means everything from how many workers the company employs to how much money those workers make.
The development agreement also requires triumph to hire legal workers and be able to verify workers` status.
The report concludes Triumph is in "full compliance with or has exceeded compliance with" the above mentioned requirements.
Capell is satisfied overall with the audit, but says some questions remain about the documentation of "new" workers at the plant.
"The company has some privacy concerns that are legitimate and the city was not provided with those documents but we are trying to work out some things," said Capell.
According to the report, Triumph does not have to provide documents to the city that might prove or disprove a worker`s legal status. It only requires the plant certifies that it has not knowingly employed illegal workers and that it comply with federal law.
Capell will continue to monitor triumph`s hiring practices through future audits.
He says the company has been more than cooperative.
You peopel are complaining about polution is a crock. Put your houses that are right next to the city dump up for sale and get out. I suggest moving farther out where therre is no sewer and water and less roads. That way civilization won't find you. What was the excuse whenm the nascar track wanted to be your neighbor. It is nevitable that something will move to your area and it will probably be business. So do yourself a favor and just move.
Thanks for your cooperation in this matter.
I am pleased to read this favorable report about Triumph. The favorable information povides clear and convicing evidence to counter the clap-trap being slung around by the "anti-progress" crowd.
Art, the sky is not falling!
Pro-pig.
If you're that easily convinced, you're not qualified to pick what to eat for breakfast.
This isn't my efficency report. This efficency report came from an independent source that took a first hand look at Triumph's operation and found it to be top-of-the-line.
Now that this issue has been settled, let's move onto more important issues. For instance, how do we stop furture development of 53? And how do we plan to save every corn field in Bettendorf from being turned into a parking lot?
Won't you join our cause Art?
Pro-pig.
So one group does a study and says Triumph runs efficiently and you think that puts the entire issue to bed? Wow.
A first hand positive account from experts who actually inspected Triumph beats the JUNK the anti-progress crowd have been peddling!
Combine this with the study conducted by the Enviromental Portetcion Aganecy and you boys are not left with much to fight with.
Instead of making issues up, Art is going to have to deal with reality. Thanks for broaching this important issue DOpe. The anti-pig crowd is going wee-wee with their false and misleading rhetoric!
If you're going to dismiss evidence as "junk" out of hand, you better be able to explain why you think it's junk.
Unfortunately, the answer is clear. It's simply because it's information that goes against your pre-conceived agenda.
Face it, you have NO idea if the opponents information is "junk".
Just saying it is does not make it so.
You're statements show you to be more of a blind close-minded partisan than you accuse the opponents of being.
They have volumes of facts and studies and real-world evidence, and you wave one study and say you've won and that all their data is "junk".
That's really intelligent.
The Enviromentail Protection Agency looked over the pollution objections and found them to be false and irrelveant. As well, the new "Triumph Efficeny Report" conducted by a third party reviewed the facts and gave Triumph rave reviews.
Anyone fool can make up imaginary hirribles and predict they will come to pass, but facts trump false stories made up to bolster dying enviormental groups like the one in Davenport. Why is this Iowa group sticking their nose into Illinois business. If these clows are so dead set against progress, why don't you stop Iowa from turning every corn field in Bettendrof into parking lot?
The pig plant is coming and their is nothing the Dope or anyone can do about it. Mike Boland sponsored the "support letter" to Governor Balgojevich and now the deal is done. You can wine until your blue in the face but the deal is done. Get over it!
Spoken like a true a-hole. So Republican sounding.
You're worse than any of the environmental groups judging by your language and terming all the little papers that support the plant as "rave reviews" (doubt that)
and flat out lying by saying the EPA found objections "false and irrelevant".
If you can't win without resorting to out and out lies, something's wrong.
Also, your gloating is misplaced as I don't think you'll be able to find anywhere here or elsewhere where I stated that my goal was to stop the hog plant or that I thought it was going to be stopped.
Thodos and gang made sure the thing was pushed through before anyone had a chance to know what it was about, so that's a done deal. But people can still learn just what was done and what to expect.
The proof will be in the pudding, so to speak, and while I'm sure that most pollution and other negatives will be well buried, from time to time facts will trickle out that will likely prove all your rosy scenarios to the be the misleading propaganda that facts on the ground elsewhere have shown.
Somehow you expect that this particular plant will be completely different from every other similar plant in the country.
I don't buy that, and neither do many others.
This was taken directly from the National Pork Producers Council website:
Air Emissions Consent Agreement
NPPC (National Pork Producers Council) on behalf of pork producers and with representatives for other industries has worked for three years to negotiate an historic Air Emissions Consent Agreement between agricultural industries and a government agency. A key part of this agreement is a two-year benchmark study of the air emissions from livestock and poultry operations across the country. Based on the findings of the study, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will set national air policies, identify farm emissions thresholds, and regulate excessive air emissions levels. Pork producers will be able to determine their need to install control measures based on the findings of the study.
The pork industry is paying for the pork portion of the study through checkoff funds facilitated by the National Pork Board and possibly individual contributions if needed.
The pork industry helped design and is paying for the pork portion of the study
The EPA approved the design of the study.
Purdue University will lead the study and subcontract with numerous university scientists who will use the latest in technologies to collect data from various farms across the country.
The following is a quote from the Purdue University website:
"The technology to completely prevent and remove odors either does not exist or is prohibitively expensive to install and/or manage."
-Albert J. Heber, Ph.D., P.E., Associate Professor, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue University
Do you think the public is going to get any kind of protection against the pork industry? It's a farce!
-from a po'd Q-CAT member
I thought that you were an OK guy then you go and believethis stupid report. It is bad scienceand you are a turncoat. First against the plant and now all of the sudden for it.
What a joke.
Could someone figure out what anon above is saying and who they're talking to? I'm confused.
TO: Pro-pig and the anon "Triumph's Report Released"
released on 8/02/2006
WHAT A JOKE! I noticed the report neglected to mention that there's 17 lawsuits against Triumph Foods in St. Joseph, Missouri already. They stem from wrongful death to loss of hearing, loss of arm, etc.
How about all the negative press that Triumph Foods has had since before they even opened their God forsaken facility!!! I'll give you just a few here for your simple mind to read. . .
These were on the KQ2 website....their local news station in St. Joseph, MO where Triumph Foods opened their first and only hog processing plant Jan.06
Here's a few articles on their site:
SomeTriumph Foods Union Workers Say Contract is Unfair and Biased
( Date Posted: 5/16/2006 )
Local laborers with Triumph Foods go on the record tonight to complain about what they call "preferential treatment" for their fellow hispanic employees who number 800 strong. That`s according to one company higher-up who fears retribution if named.
"They don`t want you to know what`s really going on down there. I`ll tell you what`s going on down there. It`s b.s. This is a union town and we should have had a better contract than this."
A Triumph fFods employee we`ll call Renee says her union contract is unfair. She fears losing her job if she goes on camera, but wants St. Joseph to know her beef with the pork processing plant.
"There`s 80 percent Mexicans down there, 20 percent white people. The Mexicans are getting sign-on bonuses; we`re getting nothing," Renee says. She claims preferential treatment of hispanic employees. A Triumph recruiter who wishes to remain unnamed, says that`s just not true. She says Triumph recruits anyone, so long as they are skilled laborers. Another Triumph employee we`ll call Maria, says money is the bottom line.
"I was told by a trainer, a mexican trainer, he said straight up that our supervisor wanted a line full of mexican people because they will come in, they won`t argue, and they don`t care about pay raises," Maria says.
"Some of the people that come into the plant that are hispanic people, they categorize them as gold, silver or platinum, and for example, a platinum person, after they are there for 60 days, they get a $500 signing bonus. Where`s our bonus?" Renee says.
One hispanic family, who was also afraid to go on camera, told KQ2 that Triumph gave them $150 for gas money to drive up from Texas. Renee says the company also buses hispanic workers.
"They bus from Omaha, Iowa, Sioux City. I mean, we have tags in the parking lot from Kentucky, Illinois, Texas, Mexico; I`ve seen Mexico tags out there," Renee says.
Renee and Maria both admit it`s a dirty job but say plenty of locals want to do it. "There`s a lot of people in this town that I know have experience that have been turned down even after an interview," Renee says.
But Hispanic workers say the locals who apply either can`t stand the smell or can`t seem to pass a drug test, a problem even the St. Joseph Area Chamber of Commerce says is true throughout the area.
"There`s a huge, huge percentage of people who simply cannot pass the most minimal of drug tests, and companies are getting more and more sophisticated in how they test for it," Cyndra Lorey, vice-president of community development, says. Still, the Triumph recruiter denies that Hispanics get preferential treatment. But, inside the workers` union contract under Article Four, Section Three, the contract states:
"The company will grant excused time off, without pay for up to seven days for employees who have personal proceedings with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service." KQ2 contacted Immigration and Customs Services, or ICE. While American citizens have three days to prove citizenship, an ICE official over the phone says that language in the contract sounds like a labor issue. KQ2 is waiting a call back from the National Labor Board.
Triumph employees also tell KQ2 of two separate ICE raids at the plant, but our immigration contact says he has no record of any arrests. One footnote to this story., the high interest in who`s being hired at Triumph Foods stems in part from the pork plants promise to bring 1,100 local jobs while petitioning for TIF money.
Our source says they`ve come close. With 1,800 on the payroll, 1,000 are locals.
Still, current St. Joseph City Council member Barbara LaBass was on the TIF committee back then. She tells KQ2 she felt pressured to vote in favor of the TIF because of the need for jobs, but if voting today, she says she would vote no.
______________________________
Triumph`s Hog-handling Could be Food Quality Issue and Perhaps Legal Matter
( Air Date: 7/17/2006 ) Another safety issue for Triumph Foods concerns the livestock.
The high heat can be deadly on hogs -- literally stressing them to death.
Triumph loses revenue every time a hog doesn`t make it to slaughter, but that`s not the only concern.
The handling of the hogs could be a food quality issue, and perhaps a legal matter.
Truckloads of hogs ready for slaughter approach Triumph Foods in the dead of the night. It`s the coolest time of day, easing some of the stress put on the hogs.
"The stress of course would be heat and then yelling. Anything that stresses us, stresses [the hogs]--terrifies them," Gary Silverglat, a 30-year veteran of the pork processing industry, says.
University and veterinarian research shows stress in hogs causes lactic acid to build up, resulting in mediocre meat. "There are hormones in your body that cause the stress condition. In cattle, it`s called `firery carcuses` because when they kill the animal and take the hyde off, the fat would be bloody red, because the blood comes to the surface,similar to when the human body gets excited, your blood goes into stress mode to fight. The same thing happens in hogs, so you want a hog calm when you go to slaughter because the meat will be better," Silverglat says.
But it`s not just the heat or the quality of the meat that worries one animal rights group. KQ2 showed People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, footage of hogs being off loaded at Triumph Foods. Some of the hogs were dead. Others were yelled at and whipped to move off of the truck.
"What we see on this video is cruelty to animals," Bruce Friedrich, vice president of PETA`s international grassroots organization, says. PETA believes the video may be in violation of state and federal laws. "The beating the animals until they squeal appears to violate the American Veterinary Medicine protocol for moving pigs to slaughter. The, by definition, it would not be standard agricultural practice, at least by Missouri state law, and it would be illegal," Friedrich says.
But any pig farmer will tell you pigs are sensitive and will squeal at their own shadow or shinny reflections. But PETA points to pigs` intelligence. "The American Veterinary Medical Association says because pigs are bright animals, you don`t need to beat them, and if you hear squealing, that`s a problem," Friedrich says.
Pork producers are putting weight behind a voluntary program to certify hog-truck drivers. Triumph Foods spokesperson Patt Lilly says his company requires certified drivers and producers. In fact, two Triumph employees are listed on the pork producers` website as official trainers for the voluntary Quality Truckers Program. Lilly says it`s in the company`s best interest, because losing hogs means losing money.
PETA tells KQ2 it is in the process of filing a claim with the USDA requesting it look closely at Triumph`s hog-handling practices. And, on a related note, legislation currently bans cattle that cannot walk to slaughter from being processed off a truck. Some lawmakers want to add fatigued hogs to the list.
New agriculture bills that could include hogs are expected to hit the house floor in the next legislative session.
___________________________
New town residents seek shelter at Salvation Army
( Air Date: 10/16/2006 )
The Salvation Army is seeing a change in the faces of those in need. Many families looking for better opportunities in town, are now seeking shelter.
What looked like a promising new beginning has turned into a tough situation for a family of three.
Joshua Rocha talks about how it all came about "I met this man, and he offered me a job. So I told my wife when I got back to Iowa, so, we have nothing else lets try it, but the job didn`t pan out."
The Rochas are new to St. Joseph, they`re expecting a baby and they`re homeless. And, like many new arrivals, they`ve turned to the Salvation Army for help. "I`d rather swallow my pride and tell people, yeah, I don`t have anywhere for my son to sleep tonight. I don`t have anything to feed him tonight can you help me," Rocha said.
Rocha recently got a job at Triumph Foods and is hoping to get his pregnant wife and two-year-old son, Anthony back on their feet.
He`s met Hispanics just like him, who have uprooted their lives for better opportunities.
He says for many the language barrier makes it harder to find help.
The Salvation Army is seeing that, first hand as a more diverse community asks for assistance. Major Carol Lemirand says it`s "not just Hispanics but a lot of different cultures, we always tended to not look at what culture they come from but what their need is and why they have that need." The Salvation Army helps with everything from filling up pantries to gathering school supplies for kids.
And need doesn`t discriminate.
"There are some 20-thousand Vets in Missouri who are potentially homeless, and the Vets also are more culturally diverse than they were years and years ago," she said.
That`s why the Salvation Army is working with other local organizations to better serve families like the Rochas.
____________________________
St. Joseph Man Blames Chemical Exposure at Work for Nagging Cough
Is a Midland Empire man`s nagging cough something more serious?
The St. Joseph man works for QSI, a company contracted to clean Triumph Foods. He says the chemicals he`s forced to use are hazardous to his health.
Bill VaLeu says after working the overnight clean-up shift at Triumph Foods, a hacking cough continues well into the night.
"It`s like you`ve got a hair down your throat and you just can`t get it up," VaLeu says. "It`s worse than a tickle; it`s a hurt."
VaLew says it`s the same story for his QSI co-workers.
"We have a safety meeting and everybody in that cafeteria is just coughing their heads off, and we joke and call it the `chem cough`" VaLeu says.
VaLeu says he has to use chemicals to do his job, and he believes that`s what`s causing him to cough.
"I`m back there where the livestock first comes in to be slaughtered, and I have to wash down the feces and the blood," VaLeu says. "I have to have chemicals of course to get the blood off the plastic and off the steel that`s back there."
VaLeu says the sanitizing agent Prochlor seems to be the main culprit of the cough.
"It`s a chlorine base; it`s a bleach," VaLeu says. "When you pour that into a bucket, you can actually see the vapor coming up off of it. It looks kind of like a steam."
According to the governement-controlled Material Data Safety Sheet, you should not inhale Prochlor vapors, which can cause nose and throat irritation. A QSI employee complained to OSHA, who sent a letter back to the company to comply. VaLeu says nothing has been done, even though he says QSI knows about the chemical cough.
"Otherwise, why would you have a candy jar that`s about four inches in diameter full of Halls cough drops on the desk saying here, come and get these. And why would you say that you`re going to have someone from the corporate office come in to take air quality control tests?" VaLeu asks.
VaLeu says those tests haven`t happened. VaLeu smokes but says his cough is different from anything he has ever had.
KQ2 is waiting for a call back from QSI. Triumph Foods spokesman Patt Lilly says the pork processing plant only contracts with QSI and doesn`t control its practices or employees.
What part of all this don't you anti-progress folks git? The die is cast. People are going to kill the pigs in Barstow and turn them into Jim's Ribs. Oh the shame.
Guess what? We live on a farm. We raise corn, cows, chickens and farm kids. What part of this don't you git.
Maybe you should move out to Kalifornia and as you come off as a bunch of "tree huggers".
Aniumals die. People slaughter and eat them and turn them into clothing ans such. That is what we do.
I can't wait for those tasty ribs.
Judging from the raids conducted yesterday on 6 meat packing plants around the country, including Mason City Iowa, against the plants of just one company, and the fact that they arrested TWELVE HUNDRED ILLEGALs working there, I'm sure you can't WAIT for the flood of illegal immigrants coming to the area and working those wonderful magical jobs you've thrown out as justification for this mess, right?
Are you sayin illegals don't live in downtown Moline right now? IS that what you say? Are you saying illegals don't pay income taxes and/or property taxes? That their children don't count towards school enrollment? Is that what you tink?
As a racist, what is it that you are really trying to say?
You claim these $12.50 an hour job with benefits is beneath you, but complain because some people want to come here and work. Do you want to kill pigs and turn them into Jim's Ribs, or do you want the poor people to do the job that you think is beneath you?
By the way Dope, do you eat Jim's Ribs? Where do you think the ribs come from right now? How do you know illegal aliens are not killing the hog you eat?
Ah.. our resident moron pork plant supporter who constantly has to INVENT straw man arguments and put words in people's mouths to argue against that, rather than facts.
The fact is that you're debating your own invented straw men, not anything you've read here.
And you can drop the Jim's ribs stupidity. Something tells me we'll still have them available if a pork plant isn't built on wetlands in Barstow.
No one is stupid enough to believe that unless Triumph gets built, pork ribs will vanish. Except you perhaps.
Take a hog tranquilizer. Couldn't hurt.
TID = DUMBASS
Another fine example of the reasoned argument we've come to expect from pro-Triumph leaders.
Thanks, and Merry Christmas to you too. ha!
The pig plan will generate $130,000,000.00 in new construction for our area. As this is a private investment it rolls over 7.5 times and produces $975,000,000 in total economic development impact. Once the plant is up and running property taxe will be assessed, and the company will hire 2,000 people at an average rate of $12.50 per hour, or $26,000 per year and benefits.
Some people will expend money for a new house. Others will rent. Some people will want to purchase a new car, or a used one, or maybe a second car, who knows?
I imagine some people will go to the grocery store and purchase food. Others will stop in East Moline to purchase gas and cancer sticks.
Once in a while people will stop and buy some beer, or eat at the Ice Cream Palace.
In some case one spuse will work in the factory and the other in the shop and take home $52,000 per year and benefits.
I love pork and often stop at Porky's in Silivs to get a pulled-pork sangwich on the way home from the bacon facotry at Oscar Meyer.
Are you opposed to Oscar Meyer in Davenport also? How about Ralston Purina? Are you some kind of wack-job vegan?
How did the people that live in Barstow get permits to build their house in a flood plains? Why would they build a house in a flood-plan?
Would you mind citing just where you found this dubious claim that private investment "rolls over 7.5 time" and let us know who it is that came to that conclusion and how they arrived at it?
Thanks.
Otherwise, it's a number plucked out of thin air and meaningless.
Calculations of the total output mulitplier effect results from Triumph's operations in St. Joe output in 2005 with the final demand mulitplier for each specific aspect of Triumphs construction taken into effect.
For the record, the applied "direct effect" employment from Triumph was not included in this analysis.
If you don't understand this I suggest you take a basic economics course at Black Hawk College.
The simple fact is that when Triumph spends $130,000,000 to build a new plant in Barstow the money they expend will go though 7.5 people's hands before it ends up in someone elses bank acccount.
For instance, Triumph will hire a General Contractor to build the plant. The contractor will reatin a laborer to build the plant. The laborer will buys bricks to build the building. The brick man will hire a man to drive the bricks to the job sight and unload them. A man who actually loads the bricks onto the drivers' truck will alos get paid, as will the man who stacked the bricks brought into the building in the first place. The man who actually brought the bricks into the building in his truck will also get paid, as will the man that loaded his bricks and the man that actually made the bricks. And of course, Triumph will ulitmatle pay the man who brought the raw materials to the man that actually made the bricks before the bricks wre ever shipped to Barstow. That is what economist mean by total economic imact.
I realize this is a rather crude economic schematic, but I thought it easier for you to understand than if I gave you the actual details used to decipher this anaylsis.
I hope this helps!
So I assume you teach the dismal science at BHC?
I still am dubious that anyone can reliably and accurately predict such figures. But thanks for the techno-speak anyway.
First of all Triumph hs said they will pay an average of $11.75 an hour to 1,000 employees NOT $12.50 an hour for 2,000. The plant
will probably hire 3,000 employees and pay 2,000 of them $8.50 an hour. The plant in ST. Joseph currently has over 2,100 workers and they aren't up to 16,000 hogs a day which is what Triumph has set for the EM hog plant.
I can make assumptions too. Triumph / EM has been quoted saying that this hog plant will be the largest pork processing facility in the world. Have you noticed how large the TIF district is? Smithfield foods in NC is currently processing 32,000 hogs a day. So if Triumph will be as large or larger, now we are looking at 5,000 people making $8.50 an hour along with the 1,000 at an average of $11.75.
So all of that "economic development" makes it ok to shit all over the lifes of the thousands of residents who will be severely impacted by the hog INDUSTRY. If they build the plant the cafos WILL come.
Have you read the "Agreement" that the city of EM signed concerning the hog plant? How in the world did the people in EM let their council get away with this. The citizens of EM obviously do NOT know what their council is committing them to for the next 20+ years. They had better be researching ways to get out of it no matter what it costs.
Triumph is coming, you can cry and whine all day long, but that ain't changing the fact that the pigs are coming to Bastow!
East Moline is for the pig plant. They supporeted both Jacobs and Boland in the last election as did the people of Barstow. If they didn't want the pig plant they would have thrwon these two bums out. The fact that they didn't tells the story. People are for the pig plant, not against it!
Ahhh, I love the assumptions being made by the opposition:
"knee deep in gore"
--You obviously haven't been there, because the plant is incredibly clean, and outside of the kill floor, almost odor-free. (and you can barely smell anything outside the doors)
"The plant
will probably hire 3,000 employees and pay 2,000 of them $8.50 an hour."
--No, they are paying what they claim they are paying. You are deliberately exaggerating to rationalize your argument, and I am calling you out on that.
BTW:
--wetlands can be moved; it happens all the time, and the wildlife is just fine, thank you
--All the water coming out of the plant will be treated in the sewer system before going into the river, as happens with every other business and home.
--Isn't it interesting how the opponents complain that the plant will both use millions of gallons of water per day, and simultaneously raise the water level in their front yards (never mind the fact that the water comes from upstream). Seems to me if they are using that much water per day that they can't possibly be raising the water table, but maybe I missed fluid dynamics class.
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