SLAUGHTERHOUSE BLUES
 
ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 5TH, I READ THE FOLLOWING TO THE EAST MOLINE, IL, CITY COUNCIL, MAYOR AND NEARLY 400 OTHERS IN A CROWDED HIGH SCHOOL AUDITORIUM.  WE HAD GATHERED TO VOICE OUR OPINIONS ON A PROPOSED HOG SLAUGHTERHOUSE IN THE EAST MOLINE CITY LIMITS:

LOCATING A HOG SLAUGHTERHOUSE ON A FLOOD PLAIN IS UNCONSCIONABLE. THE REASONS WHY SHOULD BE OBVIOUS… A FIFTH-GRADER COULD FIGURE IT OUT.

A SLAUGHTERHOUSE IS ONE OF THE WORST TYPES OF INDUSTRIES TO COME TO A COMMUNITY.  THE AIR AROUND A HOG SLAUGHTERHOUSE AND AROUND THE HOG CONFINEMENTS THAT WILL BE BUILT TO SUPPLY THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE IS TOXIFIED WITH DEADLY HYDROGEN SULFIDE AND AMMONIA.  ACCORDING TO DR. KAY KILBURN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN HIS BOOK “CHEMICAL BRAIN INJURY,” HYDROGEN SULFIDE FROM HOG WASTE KILLS.  

PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO IT CAN CAUSE CONVULSIONS, SEIZURES, AND DEATH.  DR. KILBURN IS “THE NATION’S FOREMOST AUTHORITY ON HYDROGEN SULFIDE AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE HUMAN BODY.”  THIS PER A SEGMENT ON IOWA PUBLIC TV’S ‘MARKET TO MARKET’ WHICH AIRED IN JANUARY, 2003.

HOG CONFINEMENTS WILL INCREASE DRAMATICALLY IN WESTERN ILLINOIS AND EASTERN IOWA TO ACCOMMODATE THE DEMAND FOR NEARLY 16,000 PIGS A DAY.  THE NEED FOR PIGS TO BE DELIVERED ALIVE IS CRUCIAL TO A SLAUGHTERHOUSE’S SURVIVAL.  

TRUCKING PIGS FROM ONLY ABOUT 50-80 MILES AWAY MEANS MORE WILL LIKELY LIVE DURING TRANSPORT.  SO THE HOG CONFINEMENTS NEED TO BE CLOSE BY.  THE RESULTING EXPLOSION OF HOG CONFINEMENTS IS A BAD IDEA.

ASTHMA RATES FOR CHILDREN ARE WORSE FOR THOSE LIVING CLOSE TO THESE SITES BECAUSE ANTIBIOTICS ARE USED ON MANY HOGS IN CONFINEMENTS.  A REPORT BY DR. JAMES MERCHANT OF THE COLLEGE OF RURAL HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA SUBSTANTIATES THIS.

THE STRESS THE HOGS ENDURE, AND THE SMELL OF THEIR OWN STENCH FROM LIVING IN CLOSE QUARTERS, CAUSE THEM TO BECOME ILL. THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS ANTIBIOTICS ARE NEEDED.

IT IS MY SUGGESTION THAT THIS ISSUE BE TABLED UNTIL SUCH TIME THE COUNCIL VISITS A MIDWEST HOG SLAUGHTERHOUSE.  HAVE ANY OF YOU BEEN TO ONE OR EVEN TO A HOG CONFINEMENT?  IF ALL OF YOU HAVE NOT DONE THIS, HOW CAN YOU VOTE ON THIS?

TAKE TIME TO DETERMINE FIRSTHAND THE IMPACT ON A COMMUNITY THAT HAS EXPERIENCED ONE OF THESE.  THE SAFETY ISSUES SHOULD ALSO BE OF GRAVE CONCERN.  THIS TYPE OF FACTORY INDUSTRY HAS AN ATROCIOUS RECORD OF PERMANENT INJURY AND DEATH.

SOME LOCAL WORKERS MAY WANT TO INITIALLY BE EMPLOYED AT A HOG SLAUGHTERHOUSE, BUT USUALLY ONLY STAY A YEAR OR SO.  THIS INFORMATION IS PROVIDED BY THE GLOBAL RESEARCH ACTION CENTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT OR G.R.A.C.E

OFTEN IMMIGRANT AND OR MIGRANT WORKERS ARE DRIVEN TO THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE TO WORK, AND ARE NOT AWARE THAT THEY CAN SPEAK OUT IF SAFETY IS A CONCERN.  MANY OF THESE WORKERS LIVE IN HOUSES OWNED BY “THE COMPANY”.  OUT OF THEIR WAGES COMES MONEY TO PAY FOR THEIR ‘RENT’ AND FOR THEM BEING DRIVEN TO WORK. ALSO PAYMENT FOR THEIR MEALS AT THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE IS AUTOMATICALLY DEDUCTED.

IN ONE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, WHEN A FIRE BROKE, 25 PEOPLE DIED BECAUSE THEY HAD ALL BEEN LOCKED IN DURING WORKING HOURS.  DOES THIS SOUND LIKE A SAFE INDUSTRY?

SO PLEASE VOTE NOT TO BRING THIS DANGEROUS FACTORY TO THE AREA. BRING INSTEAD A MORE BENEVOLENT BUSINESS: TRY TO ATTRACT A FLAG MAKING COMPANY, OR A WIND GENERATOR MANUFACTURER, OR A COMPOSTING COMPANY THAT MAKES INSULATION BRICKS.  HUNDREDS OF OTHER TYPES OF BUSINESSES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED.

THE WASTE ALONE FROM THE HOG CONFINEMENTS THAT MUST SUPPORT THIS SLAUGHTERHOUSE IS MUCH MORE THAN OUR LAND CAN SUPPORT.  THE WATER IN THE AREA WILL NOT BE FIT FOR USE, AND TOURISM WILL SUFFER AS A RESULT.

THOSE ATTENDING THE JOHN DEERE CLASSIC WILL SMELL HYDROGEN SULFIDE AND AMMONIA INSTEAD OF NEWLY MOWED GRASS.  THESE SMELLS CARRY. THE DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING WHEN THE 40MPH WINDS WERE FROM THE NORTH, THE SMELL OF MANURE WAS PICKED UP IN THE MIDDLE OF MOLINE.

THE BIX WILL BE MORE SMELLY THAN SWEATY.  EVEN THE FAIRS AND OUTDOOR MUSICAL EVENTS WILL BE EFFECTED.  A FEW DAYS OF STAGNANT AIR IN WHICH THERE IS NO AIR MOVEMENT SUCH AS HAPPENED FOR 3 DAYS LAST FEBRUARY WILL KEEP THE SMELLS FROM MOVING OUT OF THE AREA.  THE AIR QUALITY INDEX WILL BE EXTREMELY HIGH FOR THOSE WITH RESPIRATORY PROBLEMS.

THE COST TO THE COMMUNITY IN INCREASED PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS 5, 20, 50 YEARS FROM NOW WILL NOT BE WORTH IT.

THERE IS A BULLY IN THE ROOM.  IT IS CALLED TRIUMPH. IT IS TIME TO STAND UP TO IT.

VOTE NOT TO APPROVE THIS REQUEST.  THANK YOU

.....THEN AFTER MOST OF THE PUBLIC COMMENT TIME, TRIUMPH FOODS  CAME INTO THE ROOM.  ITS GOLDEN BOY CHOSEN TO SPEAK WAS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, RICK HOFFMAN.  NOT ONLY WAS IT ODD THAT THE COMPANY OFFICIALS WEREN'T IN THE ROOM FOR MANY OPINIONS ON THEM COMING TO TOWN, BUT THEY CAME FROM BEHIND A CURTAIN! 

MR. HOFFMAN SPENT TIME TELLING US HOW MANY WONDERFUL JOBS THEY WOULD BRING.  BUT THIS COMPANY HAS NO TRACK RECORD.  IT WAS CREATED IN 2003 BY A CONSORTIUM OF PORK PRODUCERS WHICH INCLUDES CHRISTIANSEN COMPANY.  THE ONLY OTHER PLANT THEY'VE BUILT IN ST. JOSEPH, MO.,. HAS HAD THEIR OPENING DELAYED BECAUSE THERE WAS A FIRE.  ONE WORKER DIED AND 14 WERE INJURED.

SO MANY QUESTIONS ARE LEFT UNANSWERED.  THE BEHIND CLOSED DOORS DISCUSSIONS HAVE GONE ON FOR MONTHS.  ONLY THE WEEK AFTER THANKSGIVING DID THE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS RECEIVE THE PROPOSED REDEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT.

IT JUST SO HAPPENED THE TWO SPEAKERS FROM GRACE (GLOBAL RESEARCH ACTION CENTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT) HAD BEEN SLATED FOR OVER 6 WEEKS TO COME TO THE AREA DECEMBER 3RD. 

SO, NOW ONE OF THE COUNCIL MEMBERS OF SILVIS (NEXT TO EAST MOLINE) WANTS TWO PUBLIC MEETINGS THIS COMING WEEK.  THE EAST MOLINE COUNCIL WILL VOTE AGAIN MONDAY, DECEMBER 19TH WHETHER OR NOT TO RECOMMEND TO PROCEED WITH THE PROPOSED AGREEMENT.

SO, TIME WILL TELL. THERE ARE ALSO PERMITS WHICH WOULD HAVE TO BE SCRUTINIZED. 

ONCE AGAIN, CORPORATE AMERICA TRIES TO PUT A STRANGLEHOLD ON A COMMUNITY. IT AIN'T OVER, TILL IT'S OVER.

TO CHECK ON THE GRACE FACTORY FARM PROJECT, GO TO WWW.FACTORYFARM.ORG 

ALSO, VIEW IOWA FARMERS UNION WWW.IAFU.ORG  BECAUSE THEY HAVE ASKED FOR A MORATORIUM ON CAFO'S (CONCENTRATED ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATIONS)

AND DON'T FORGET...CPR...CONSERVE/PARTICIPATE/RECYCLE