Opponents of the Allen Hiram poultry processing plant in Millsboro have a powerful weapon at their disposal. It’s the ability to use the process of environmental clean-up to push a not in my backyard strategy.
The Korean company plans to run a 700-employee poultry processing plant that would employ the latest technology, add product lines and boost a key industry. By questioning plans for an environmental clean up of the former Vlasic pickle plant,opponents could hold up the project for months and perhaps years. The group, Protecting Our Indian River, has another secret weapon as noted in a recent News Journal story.
The growth of Sussex County has brought in a population of retirees and second home dwellers including a few with skills in the art of exploiting the bureaucracy. The hope is that the folks at Harim, which saved the faltering Allen Family Foods poultry operations on Delmarva, has the patience required to deal with this latest threat precious blue collar jobs in the state. A quick look at the Protecting Our Indian River site also shows some of the views of opponents who also focus on factory farms, fracking and other obsessions.
No one is questioning the need to ensure that the Vlasic site is cleaned up. But left out of the discussion is the potential of the Allen Hiram project promises to speed up that process. If the Vlasic site simply remains closed, the danger to the water supply will be greater.
But as we saw to the north with the No Newark Power Plant group, environmental activists have enjoyed success by hooking up with the not in my backyard opponents who are naturally inclined to oppose such projects, but represent a tiny constituency. No Newark Power Plant has mobilized opposition to the Data Centers proposal to build a data center and an accompanying gas-fired power plant.
By cloaking their arguments in environmental rhetoric and coming up with frightening scenarios with little basis in fact, many people can be swayed. This process comes with a touch elitism, with the view that blue collar jobs will be held by immigrants or those without advanced degrees. Never mind that the spin-off effects of manufacturing and construction jobs aid everyone.
In the case of Newark, a few opponents stated that the $45,000 a year jobs would not do much for the economy. That kind of thinking shows an alternate reality.
The media does little to aid the process. While both points of view are typically aired, those with the loudest voices typically get the headlines. Left out in news pages is any analysis of the economic impact of such projects and the economic and environmental dangers of doing nothing.
The state could also do a better job on this process, but is in the uncomfortable position of being both a regulator and cheerleader. There is also the political question of Democrats walking the tightrope between advocating for economic development and not alienating those on their left flank.
That leaves the business community, particularly those of us north of the canal, to strongly support to this project will help turn around the dismal outlook for manufacturing in Delaware.
