ST. PAULS — State officials are holding a public hearing in St. Pauls on Thursday to hear comments about Sanderson Farms’ plans to construct a chicken processing plant about four miles west of the town.
The hearing is being held by the North Carolina Division of Water Resources at 7 p.m. in the R.E. Hooks Center, located at 176 N. Third St. The hearing is a necessary as part of the Mississippi-based company’s application to receive a wastewater irrigation permit.
According to a state notice about the hearing, all comments should refer to water quality and water resource impacts resulting from the proposed facility. A written copy of oral comments should be submitted to the division if a speaker exceeds three minutes. Application number WQ0037772 should be referred to in all comments and requests concerning issues associated with water quality.
According to the hearing notice, written comments can be presented at the meeting or sent to Nathaniel Thornburg, North Carolina Division of Water Resources, Non-Discharge Permitting Unit, 1617 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1617. Comments will be accepted until Oct. 2.
The draft wastewater irrigation permit and a fact sheet can be found online at portal.ncdenr.org/web/wq/aps/lau. The information is also available at the Division of Water Resources offices at 512 Salisbury St. in Raleigh and 225 Green St., Suite 714, in Fayetteville.
Christine Ellis, with the Winyah Rivers Foundation, has been urging area residents to attend the hearing.
“We are very concerned about the potential impacts on water quality in the Lumber River watershed,” Ellis said in a statement. “Our main concern is that no comprehensive environmental impact study has been completed for the slaughterhouse and the 100 plus new chicken ‘farms’ that will be needed to supply the slaughterhouse.”
Sanderson Farms is constructing a $115 million chicken processing plant near St. Pauls, and a $17 million hatchery near the intersection of N.C. 41 and Snake Road in Lumberton. The plant is expected to create about 1,000 jobs with the hatchery creating another 75 to 100 jobs.
As a result of Sanderson Farm’s investment in St. Pauls, the St. Paul’s property tax has been able to remain at 65 cents per $100 of property value. According to the the town’s administrator, J.R. Steigerwald, taxpayers this year are getting a tax break because of Sanderson Farms’ decision to build in the community.
