Fight over chicken processing plant in Fayetteville
FAYETTEVILLE (WTVD) -- Cumberland County farmer Dwayne Smith says a proposed chicken processing plant in his community is not a good fit.
"I am not against Sanderson Foods," Smith said. "I am against the location. It is not a good fit, looking at the density of homes in the area, and exit 49, it is not a good fit."
Smith was one of close to 400 people who attended a public forum on the proposed plant Tuesday. The Fayetteville Regional Chamber sponsored the forum to answer questions, and clear up what it called "misconceptions" in the community.
For more than an hour, a parade of state agriculture officials, college professors and economists talked about North Carolina's poultry industry, and the environmental requirements the state now requires for a poultry plant, and associated grow houses.
Sanderson Farms spokesman Pic Billingsley said, "We have elected to build new plants. We have elected to build a state of the art plant. We have elected to use today's modern technology."
Billingsley told the audience that the company's Kinston facility sits next to homes and churches, and they have heard no complaints about smell or odor.
Sanderson Farms wants to build a 113 million dollar poultry processing plant in the Cedar Creek Business Center. It's on N.C. Highway 53 east of Fayetteville. The plant would employee 1,000 people.
However, opponents at the public forum say there is still a high price to pay. Hundreds of opponents attended the forum wearing red shirts and waving bandannas. They heckled some of the speakers.
In the end, residents on both sides of the issue said they didn't hear anything at the forum that would change their minds.
Technically, the county commissioners don't have to give their formal approval to the project. The business park already has the required zoning.
Still, county and city leaders are trying to work up an incentives package to lure the company to Cumberland County.
There is no word on when that package might be ready, or when or if Sanderson Farms will make a formal decision to move forward with plans to build in Cumberland County.
