People are worried about the possibility of a House of Raeford Farms poultry processing plant being built north of Aiken near Exit 22 on Interstate 20.
They expressed their concerns Tuesday during Aiken County Council’s meeting at the Aiken County Government Center.
Eight of those who spoke opposed the plant’s construction, and only one supported it.
House of Raeford, which is headquartered in North Carolina, is seeking incentives from County Council and Aiken City Council to construct the processing facility.
They include discounted water and sewer rates from the city of Aiken.
The Aiken Standard has reported previously that the House of Raeford would be investing $185 million if it constructs the plant here. The facility would have 900 employees, and the starting wage would be $18 an hour.
Vicki Simons said the plant “has the potential to negatively impact the following for people in and around the area where the plant could be located: air quality, water availability, water quality, sewage generation, sewage treatment, surrounding soil and waste disposal.”
Simon also mentioned other possible problems, some of which could be caused by the types of workers she believes the facility would hire.
“Council members must decide if they want here — for decades to come — a company attracting migrants, refugees and illegal aliens as its employees,” she said.
Simons also cited an article she read that reported a turnover rate among poultry plant workers that ranged from 40% to 100% annually.
Teresa Callahan, co-executive director of Eyes on Aiken, told County Council that she is “severely concerned about future water capacity issues” locally because of the large amounts that would be needed to operate the plant.
“We are already struggling with sewer capacity and the county has yet to provide a long-range plan on addressing this,” she added.
Callahan also said she believes chicken processing plants “need to be in very rural areas, not a stone’s throw away from a municipality like Aiken.”
Several of the speakers identified themselves as residents of the Summer Lakes neighborhood, including Debbie Lybrand.
“People like me who live there … would like to see sit-down restaurants at Exit 22,” she said. “We would like to see a grocery store on the north side of town that can serve not only us, but people on the other side of I-20. This plant, in my opinion, would ruin any opportunity to develop that area for these types of establishments.”
The construction of the facility, Lybrand believes, would have a negative impact on the value of residences in Summer Lakes.
“When you look at homes that are near these animal processing plants — even homes that are three to five miles out from the plant — [they] can lose as much as 10% of their property values,” she said.
Lybrand also thought County Council should be concerned about how the plant would dispose of the waste products from the chickens being processed.
“Are those parts shipped out to be rendered or are they just put in a dump?” she asked. “I’m talking about feathers and skin and heads and bones. Where does all of that go? Has anybody thought of that?”
Harrison Howell said he was worried because “this project, from what I understand, doesn’t really seem to line up with the Aiken County comprehensive plan in terms of economics and also the environment.”
County Council member Phil Napier, who represents District 6, told those who opposed the plant’s construction that he and the panel’s other members would carefully consider the matter.
“I’ve received several calls from people that live in Summer Lakes and other areas within close proximity of this poultry processing plant,” he said. “I just want to assure them that Council has questions that we want asked and answered, and we’re going to get answers. We’re going to do everything we can to see that y’all are protected.
“It’s my district and I’m not going to let my district be a dumping ground,” he continued. “But let’s just work through the process. It’s not a final thing. It’s in the early stages.”
Alberta Wasden, who lives in the Wagener area, was the lone speaker Tuesday who supported the plant’s construction.
“Aiken County is growing, but the thing that Aiken County needs is jobs,” she said. “Why? Because not everybody here has a job. Not everybody here goes to college. There are some people that need jobs at chicken packing plants. Nine hundred jobs, the money multiplied, is unbelievable.”
In February, County Council approved the first reading of an ordinance involving a fee in lieu of property taxes agreement with House of Raeford, which was known previously as Project Sunny.
The panel’s chairman, Gary Bunker, said the second reading take place April 16. A public hearing and the third and final reading of the ordinance are scheduled for May 7.
