An intersection that leads to Tyson Foods’ poultry plant in Temperanceville, Virginia, is unsafe a representative from the company told county officials.
According to a Delmarvanow.com report, Jeff Boyden, safety manager for Tyson’s complex, told the Accomack County Board of Supervisors that two accidents have occurred at the entrance to the complex from Route 13 – one of which could have resulted in severe injuries or even death had there been someone in the passenger side of the vehicle. He also reminded the county leaders that there was a fatal accident at the intersection several years ago.
Boyden said that the safety of the intersection not only affects Tyson team members and those that do business with the company, but also “the everyday county citizen who is traveling up and down the road.”
The county board was asked by Boyden to work with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to get a traffic light installed.
The board of supervisors did not immediately respond to Boyden’s request.
Tyson Foods, which recently launched a contract chicken growers’ bill of rights, is the largest broiler company in the United States. According to the WATTAgNet Top Poultry Companies Database, the company processed 174.8 million pounds of ready-to-cook chicken on a weekly basis in 2017.
The Tyson Foods plant in Temperanceville recently had its operations suspended on May 21 for maintenance purposes, but operations resumed on the following day. The plant was also the site of a small fire in an air return unit on the roof in 2013, but the fire was quickly extinguished and damage to the facility was deemed as minimal.
