News & Information

Nash County Courting Poultry Processing Plant along Tar River
Local Citizens and City of Wilson Vow to Stop Poultry Plant

Nash County Commissioners voted on November 1 to allow for rezoning to pave the way forward for proposed Sanderson Farms poultry processing plant. More than 200 local citizens attended the public hearing to voice their objections. in the end the commissioners voted 4-3 to rezone and give a green light for further recruitment of the industry. Now local citizens and the City of Wilson have vowed to put an end to the County's recruitment efforts.

Sanderson Farms is a large poultry producer that has been looking for a location in Eastern North Carolina for their second new chicken processing plant (the first being built near Kinston). Located along the Tar River, Sanderson has been eyeing approximately 150 acres of land adjacent to the Rocky Mount reservoir in Nash County, the drinking water supply for the City of Rocky Mount.

In addition to the 150 acres of land needed for the plant, the company would need 600 acres for spray fields and 30 acres for a hatchery. The plant will spawn 100 new Industrial Animal Operations (CAFOs) within a 50 mile radius, affecting numerous counties including Pitt, Edgecombe, Franklin, and Wilson Counties. Already, Nash County officials have approved a rezoning of 150 acres of the land needed from residential to general industrial.

What this proposed plant means for your Tar-Pamlico River is this: If the plant and accompanying farms are built, your Tar-Pamlico River water quality will lower drastically. The state of North Carolina does not currently regulate or monitor for air and water pollution from poultry CAFOs. Over the past 15 years, the health of our river has been compromised by pollution problems from existing industrial poultry and swine operations. We were in the same position with swine CAFOs as we are now with incoming poultry CAFOs. We cannot afford to make the same mistake with an unregulated poultry industry today. The cost to your friends, family, and future generations are much too great.

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Phone: (252) 946-7211
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