Study: Millsboro overburdened with pollution
For more than two years, the grassroots group Protecting Our Indian River has been pleading for environmental justice in Millsboro.
The group has raised thousands of dollars to fight a proposed poultry plant in court, enlisted the help of environmental attorney Ken Kristl and now has a health impact assessment completed by the University of Maryland to support its position that pollution is overwhelming residents in the Millsboro area.
Lawsuits surrounding new Allen Harim proposal
Protecting Our Indian River has pursued two separate lawsuits to halt the poultry processing plant proposed for the former Pinnacle Foods/Vlasic site. A lawsuit stating that Sussex County Board of Adjustment erred in its decision to give Allen Harim Foods LLC a special-use exception to operate the plant at the former pickle plant was recently dismissed by Judge Richard Stokes. The group plans to appeal Stokes' decision to Delaware Supreme Court, as soon as it raises $7,500 for attorney fees.
A second lawsuit, which is also in an appeal stage, argues that a brownfield remediation plan for the site is insufficient and should include off-premises monitoring. That appeal, heard in court April 29, is awaiting Stokes' ruling.
For more information about Protecting Our Indian River, go to www.protectingourindianriver.com. To donate funds to the appeal process, go to www.gofundme.com/g88rf8z5d8r.
For more information about Allen Harim Foods LLC, go to www.allenharimllc.com.
For more information about the Pinnacle Foods/Vlasic brownfield site, go to www.dnrec.delaware.gov.
The recent study was presented to less than three dozen attendees at the Indian River Senior Center in Millsboro July 25. The study points to disparities in demographics in some of the highest polluted areas in the area surrounding the Indian River, and concludes that a new poultry processing facility would make matters worse for residents by negatively impacting soil, air and water quality.
The assessment, completed between January and May 2015, outlines existing pollution sources and health data from local residents compared to existing pollution sources. Members of Protecting Our Indian River have repeatedly called for state officials to reconsider whether the area can handle any new sources of pollution.
No representatives from state or local offices, with the exception of one Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control employee, attended the July 25 presentation.
Specifically, the study was completed to assess the potential impact of Allen Harim Foods LLC's proposal to process about 2 million chickens per week at the former Pinnacle Foods/Vlasic pickle plant, an officially designated brownfield site where studies already have found groundwater contamination.
Within a two-mile radius of the site, there are about 533 single-family homes, 247 trailer homes, 240 townhouses, up to 60 apartments and two schools, the study states.
The study concludes that increased traffic from diesel-fueled trucks and employees traveling to and from the plants, as well as the use of about seven gallons of water per day per chicken would increase air and water pollutants in the area.
“This is not just an inconvenience. It's not just something that's going to hold you up in traffic,” said Maria Payan of the Socially Responsible Agricultural Project. “This is something that can impact your health in a very derogatory way.”
The study compiled data within the 19966 and 19939 ZIP codes, and included the history and pollutant contributions of major industrial facilities in the area, including Mountaire's Millsboro plant, the National Cash Register Corporation Superfund site, the site of a former vaccine manufacturing plant polluted with the chemical trichloroethylene, a concrete factory, the NRG Indian River power plant and the yet-to-be-repurposed former Pinnacle Foods/Vlasic pickle plant.
“Residents in the area of interest are overburdened with pollution from multiple sources,” the study states in its key findings. “There are several potential hazardous emissions and elevated levels of chemicals that already exist on the Harim Millsboro site such as TCE, hydrogen sulfide, arsenic, chloride, chromium, cobalt, nitrates, particulate matter and VOCs.”
The study states, that, based on an overburdening of pollution sources in the area, Allen Harim should consider another location for its new poultry operation.
“The location should have fewer existing sources of pollution and should not be in an area where residents are suffering from adverse health effects,” the study states.
Outlined health problems include respiratory issues, cancer and heart disease, which the study says all occur at significantly higher rates in the Millsboro area ZIP codes than at the state, county or national levels.
However, the study pulled cancer data from a 2007 Delaware Division of Public Health analysis, which included noted limitations such as a lack of information about smoking habits, healthcare access, length of residence in the area, among other key points.
A majority of the University of Maryland study's findings were compiled from previously completed assessments and local and federal agency reports, census data, and more recent interviews with residents and area experts.
According to the study and collected census data, the median household income in the Indian River area is more than $20,000 less than the state's median household income. More than twice as many families are living below the poverty line in the area, compared to the rest of the state, and the percentage of residents with an education level of a high school diploma or below is greater than the state, county and national figures.
Specifically in the area of the proposed plant, about 33 to 50 percent of residents are not white, a significantly different racial composition from the overall demographics of the Millsboro area, Sussex County and the state of Delaware, said lead researcher Leah Baskin Graves.
In the July 25 presentation of the health impact assessment's findings, Graves also pointed to 12 Occupational Safety and Health Administration violations in the last two years at Allen Harim's Harbeson poultry plant. The plant was most recently fined $38,000 in July for violations, which the company has contested, according to OSHA officials.
“The company is touting that they're bringing jobs to the area, I think, 700 jobs,” Graves said. “You have to look at the quality of these jobs. These aren't jobs that people want to have. The turnover rate within these companies is very high because it's a very difficult job and you face very stressful conditions that are stressful to your body and mentally. And the pay that the employees receive isn't necessarily a liveable wage.”
Allen Harim, headquartered in Seaford, operates chicken-processing facilities in Harbeson and Cordova, Md., breeding operations in Liberty, N.C., a hatchery in Dagsboro and a hatchery and feed mill in Seaford. The local company, which is owned by the South Korean Harim Corporation, employes more than 1,600 people in the United States, including more than 1,000 in Delaware.
In a statement sent July 30, Allen Harim officials said the company has been open about its goals for the facility since the 2014 purchase. The facility will continue to serve as a warehouse and distribution center, according to the statement, but a company spokeswoman could not clarify what level of poultry processing will occur at the site.
"We appreciate the patience of the community as the legal aspects of the purchase work their way through the process," the statement reads. "Allen Harim is committed to the health, welfare and employment of the State of Delaware and in all the markets in which we operate."
