From WATTAgNet:
Mountaire Farms is planning an expansion at its poultry plant in Millsboro, Delaware, that would add another line and increase production by about 18 percent.
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) held a hearing on August 31 concerning issuing the company a Coastal Zone Act permit for its planned expansion.
The hearing was attended by 16 area residents, who expressed environmental concerns, most specifically the potential of the plant producing and additional 100,000 gallons of wastewater per day. Concerns about noise from the plant’s operations were also raised.
DNREC advised that it would study the matter further before it made any decisions concerning a permit.
Mountaire’s most recent expansion was announced in June, when the company stated that it had entered into an agreement to purchase the grain elevators and operating assets of Lansing Trade Group LLC in Pocomoke, Maryland, and Eastville and Painter, Virginia.
Mountaire, the seventh largest broiler company in the United States, produced 46.63 million pounds of ready-to-cook chicken on a weekly basis in 2016, according to the WATTAgNet Top Poultry Companies Database.
Millsboro residents cite stench, noise; oppose Mountaire plant expansion
Sixteen Millsboro residents descended on a DNREC hearing Thursday night to seek denial of Mountaire's request for a Coastal Zone Act permit.
