Allen Harim Foods officials are following through on plans announced in January to convert the former Vlasic pickle plant in Millsboro to a poultry deboning facility.

The company has filed a special-use exception application with the Sussex County Board of Adjustment. A public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m., Monday, March 19, in the county administration building, 2 The Circle, Georgetown. The application is the only matter on the board's agenda.

Under the proposal, processed chicken would be trucked from Allen Harim's Harbeson plant to Millsboro for deboning, packaging and shipping. The facility would create 165 new jobs, said Allen Harim President and CEO Joe Moran.

The company is moving forward with another special-use application after withdrawing an administrative appeal filed late last year after Sussex County officials ruled the company's original 2013 special-use application had expired.

Allen Harim is also renovating a 20,000-square-foot space at the plant to move its headquarters from Seaford to Millsboro, a small part of the 460,000-square-foot facility. Moran said more space is needed for the company's 50 employees. About 50,000 square feet would be required for the deboning operation.

Other parts of the facility are used as a warehouse to store boxes and other packaging material for International Paper and other vendors used by Allen Harim.

Allen Harim purchased the former Vlasic plant at Pinnacle Way and Iron Branch Road with the intention of using it to process chicken. But nearby residents fought back, saying a chicken processing plant would bring more groundwater pollution to an area that was a designated brownfield site.

Citizens groups challenged the county board of adjustment decision. Two lawsuits filed by opponents were dismissed, but in October 2015, Allen Harim backed down from plans for live chicken processing because of concerns over disposal of an estimated 1.2 million gallons of wastewater daily.

According to county records, the deboning operation would use about 40,000 gallons of water daily to wash the poultry. The wastewater would then be disposed using the facility’s spray irrigation field.

Spokeswoman Maria Payan said members of Protecting Our Indian River will testify in opposition to the application. “The geology and hydrogeology make this area very vulnerable. As a brownfield site, there are contaminates that can easily migrate offsite,” she said.

If permits are approved, she said, past enforcement by state environmental officials has been insufficient. “I know they are short staffed but there is also political pressure for this industry to operate – seemingly with little regard for regulation and enforcement,” Payan said.