The public can weigh in the potential impact of Allen Harim Foods' proposed chicken processing plant in Sussex County Thursday.
DNREC’s Community Involvement Advisory Council holds a public workshop to address concerns about Harim's plan to purchase the former Vlasic Pickle factory in Dagsboro and convert it into a poultry processing facility.
Harim has entered into a Brownfields development agreement with DNREC to clean up the site as part of that plan.
DNREC Community Ombudsman James Brunswick says that the workshop is in response to the many questions and concerns that area residents have about the environmental impacts the plant might have.
Brunswick adds DNREC hopes to inform the community so they can address their concerns on a factual basis.
“The concerns of the community are always very legitimate. Very often there really aren’t very knowledgeable about environmental contamination," said Brunswick. "So until people are presented with actual facts, it is quite understandable that that they would have concerns about the environmental issues.”
The citizens' group Protecting Our Indian River is among those that plan to attend the meeting. Representatives from the group say they will renew their demand that a health assessment and complete site investigation are done before any work proceeds.
They say their primary concern is water quality.
"We are all on private wells surrounding this facility," said POIR member Bruce Ballantine. "We are very concerned about contamination. Why would we want another facility on top of them which is a hazardous plant?"
POIR member Cindy Wilton says promises of transparency and measures to protect community health and the environment have gone unfulfilled, shaking her trust in DNREC.
“If we are supposed to trust DNREC keep on top of Allen Harim, well why should we when they were supposed to be doing this with Vlasic pickle?" said Wilton. "How is Vlasic pickle now a brownfield if DNREC was doing their job in the first place?”
According to the groups website, the area surrounding the Vlasic/Pinnacle site already has 2 Superfund sites, a Cancer Cluster (an area with a greater than average amount of cancer cases), as well as a power plant and several manufacturing plants.
The workshop will be held on Thursday from 3:00pm to 5:00pm at Millsboro Town Hall located at 322 Wilson Highway.
A public hearing about the site will take place at 6:00pm on Wednesday, December 4 at Millsboro Fire Hall located at 109 E. State Street.