Election offers hope for Sanderson Farms' proposed plant

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  Martin Walls

  A Sanderson Farms plant in Cumberland County, North Carolina, remains possible as a result of county commission elections.

  From WATTAgNet:
  The proposed Sanderson Farms chicken processing plant in Cumberland County, North Carolina, may get the needed support from local government officials, following the results of the county commission elections held on November 4.
  Of the seven commissioners who will take office on December 1 with new terms, two are in favor of the Sanderson Farms plant, three are opposed and two are undecided.
  Commissioner Charles Evans and commissioner-elect Glenn Adams are the two who have not yet taken a position on the proposed Sanderson Farms plant. Both have said they need more information before making any decisions on the project.
  "The one thing people know about me is that I'll do my homework on it before I make any kind of a decision," said Adams, who adds that he has attended all of the public meetings about the project but wants to make sure he has seen everything the commissioners have seen.
  "There's a lot of stuff I don't know, because it's been in closed session," he said.
  If the project is approved, Sanderson Farms would invest $113 million in the plant, which would add more than 1,000 jobs to the local economy. It would be located in Cumberland County’s Cedar Creek Business Center, a 485-acre industrial site east of Interstate 95. The business center is currently vacant.
  Opponents of the project have expressed concerns about water quality, feathers and truck traffic.