Plans for a poultry rendering plant in one northeast Georgia community have run into fierce opposition from some people in the area. But the head of the Gainesville-based Georgia Poultry Federation has come to the defense of the company.
Franklin Springs is the site chosen by Pilgrim’s Pride but the close proximity of the proposed plant to the Broad River and the potential for pollution of the river are at the center of the opposition. The river is the source of water for Royston and other communities in that part of the state.
Mike Giles, president of the Georgia Poultry Federation, said for the poultry industry to continue to grow in Georgia, plants like Pilgrim’s rendering facilities are important.
Giles has defended the poultry industry when it allows chicken processing byproducts to be properly injected into the soil instead of being haphazardly dumped on top of land.
Rendering plants are important since only two-thirds of each broiler chicken is for human consumption, Giles told Georgia Recorder.
Cumming has for years been home to such a plant.
For a detailed description of how rendering plants work, click here: A complete guide: what is a Chicken rendering plant? – sunrise