The town council of Farmerville, Louisiana is taking steps to improve the water lines that feed the Foster Farms poultry plant in the community.
Earlier this year, Foster Farms took its Farmerville plant offline for several days after the company was advised by local government officials that there was a potential issue with the water, which the town of Farmerville provides. Mayor John Crow said at the time that city crews “drained all the tanks” and did “what they were told to do,” and after that, the water was retested and deemed safe.
However, wanting to make sure there are no repeat incidents of contaminated water, the town council approved a project involving the installation of a $350,000 strainer system on the water lines that feed the Foster Farms poultry plant. PEPM Group, based out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was hired to install the system, reported The Gazette.
Crow said PEPM was recommended by Foster Farms, as the two companies had done business before, and that PEPM knows what Foster Farms needs.
Crow also told the council the town secured capital outlay funding during the most recent state legislative session for the full price of the new strainer system.
“A company with more than 1,000 employees shutting down is something that gets everyone’s attention,” Crow said. “Farmerville values Foster Farms. The State of Louisiana values Foster Farms, and we’re all committed to doing whatever we can to support them.”
The California-based Foster Farms has had a presence in Farmerville since 2010, when the company purchased the complex -- which included a processing facility, a cook plant, two hatcheries, a feed mill and a protein conversion plant -- from Pilgrim’s Pride.
Foster Farms, according to information from the WATTPoultry.com Top Poultry Companies Database, is the 11th largest broiler producer in the United States, having processed 23.8 million pounds of ready-to-cook chicken on a weekly basis during the past year.
