If the Allen Harim poultry slaughter plant is permitted to open in Millsboro, it will affect the health and welfare of the citizens of the surrounding areas, as well as the Indian River, Rehoboth Bay, Dewey Beach and Bethany Beach. Anytime you discharge wastewater from cleaning 2 million chickens a week in the amount of 14 million gallons a week into a river, it’s going to affect something.
I am really surprised that the people from New Castle County who have summer homes along the Indian River are not up in arms about this as the people from Protecting Our Indian River in Millsboro are. The river is already polluted, and that is a known fact. If there is salmonella on the supposedly clean chicken on our grocery store shelves, how clean is the water going to be once it is discharged into the river? There goes the crabbing, fishing, water-skiing, jet-skiing, and what’s Mr. Pires going to do when the water at the Rusty Rudder is unswimmable, or the new hotel? They can advertise you can drink our booze, you can stay in our hotel, but don’t go in the water. In a notice on the internet from DNREC it says, “Eat no more than one meal per week of any fish caught in Delaware’s fresh, estuarine and marine waters. This advisory applies to all waters and fish species not otherwise explicitly covered by an advisory.”
So now our governor and Department of Natural Resources want to allow this discharge by issuing permits. We have proof that the site where the proposed slaughterhouse will be located is already contaminated with arsenic, cobalt, chromium 6 and other chemicals. Did you know Delaware is the No. 12 most corrupt state in the United States? In a news article by Cris Barrish, he said, As the second smallest state in size, Delaware is a place where you can see your congressman whacking golf balls at a local driving range or pedaling a stationary bike at a gym. But when it comes to transparency and anti-corruption practices in the state government, residents are often kept in the dark. Governor Markell and DNERC are hiding something and believe me when it comes out, the public is going to be in an uproar.
From a letter we received through the Freedom of Information Act it noted in a letter to DNREC and I quote, “Data was indicative of a slug of nitrate laden groundwater heading in a northerly direction which, if not kept in check, might migrate off the site and be a potential threat to the numerous shallow household wells in the northeast side of Route 331 (Possum Point).” This was in 1991, and what has our DNREC done to protect the health and welfare of the citizens? Not a damn thing! The secret society of Gov. Markell and his posse at DNREC are up to something! Wake up, citizens of Delaware before this becomes another Fisker Automotive deal!
Jay Meyer
representative of Protecting Our Indian River
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