February 19, 2025

20 thoughts on “Accomack, Perdue, Poverty and Pollution

  1. I just don’t understand how the Virginia legislaters think that people can live on 7.25 an hour when there’s no mass transit to and from work and we have the highest gas prices in the state for gas here on the Eastern shore.

    1. They don’t care! They are not struggling, never have. Have no clue what it means to do so. They believe in “trickle down economics” which has been PROVEN not to work time and again!

      1. A great number of the Supervisors have held only government jobs. They have no idea of innovation, of the difficulties of operating a private business that depends on healthy property transactions and of creating an environment attractive to tourism.

    1. The residents of Accomack County enjoy eating chicken 5-6 times a week for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Who’s county should they pollute to get that cheap source of protein?

      1. I try not to eat factory-raised chicken. I’m sure the impact of one person not eating chicken is close to zero, but if thousands of us did this, someone might notice and we would no longer be hypocrites, complaining about chicken houses while eating fried chicken.

        1. My family and I have recently stopped eating chicken, we rely more on beef, pork, deer and fish now. Seeing the chickens drive by in those trucks is too much, and the undercover videos are terrible. Chickens are alive, they should not be a mass produced factory product.

          1. If there were slaughter houses for beef and pork along Rt 13, you would have a problem with that too.

        2. Oooh, do you also use locally sourced greens for your salad? Do you prefer European truffles over their South American counterparts? Which is it, copper or cast iron for your cookware?

          Erp, some people who can barely afford gas ain’t gonna spend 7 bucks a pound on free range chicken, pal.

    2. Ms. Hanscomb, it’s also about a lack of imagination on the part of our County supervisors. What the county needs more of is money, but it will not receive it in adequate amounts from the large entities–Tyson and Perdue–that it is favoring now. The County needs more businesses like New Ravenna and Blue Crab Bay Co., as well as more wineries and breweries–clean businesses that will not pollute the Bay tributaries or conflict with the tourism we also need. Who with good judgment, a sense or entrepreneurship, in the sense of creating small, innovative, clean businesses. would want to move to the lower Shore, given the willingness of the County’s supervisors to allow it to be trashed? One has only to drive around the County to see the multiplicity of “for sale” signs on both residences and commercial buildings to realize that something is drastically wrong. The Supervisors are setting themselves up for lawsuits from the many persons whose properties have lost value because of the coddling of CAFOS and of Perdue and Tyson, to whom they are beholden.

  2. Not to mention the boom of chicken houses going up like crazy all over Accomac county. Also bad for the environment but they’re more worried about how solar panels look from the highway lol forget about that nasty smell from the plants.

  3. Both counties on the Eastern shore of VA are the poorest in all of VA. Wages low but rents high and living expenses. Tyson and Perdue are the biggest employers. Young people don’t want to stay. Nothing to entice anyone to want to live there.

  4. Well if this isn’t a VAGUE report on pollution I don’t know what is. While there may be a correlation between poverty and pollution, is that the real concern? How about health? A report like this, to be helpful in content, should be released and discussed with information on people’s health. Such as, in other areas of the country,with figures of pollution releases like this, how does health compare in the 2 locations? Also, do both locations rely on treated city water for consumption, or private wells. Oh by the way, do the EPA officials that allow 800K lbs. of pollutants also live in an area where poison is sent into the water and air ? What a soulless scam the whole idea is. Happy New Year ! and thank Youfor the info. Please follow up with more valuable info. Such as, at what number of lbs. will the EPA consider this release dangerous/toxic ?

  5. Jack Trump has hit the nail on the head–pounds of pollution per capita? Good example for how statistics can be manipulated/couched in a way to imply a certain result. E.g., industries that emit pollution will seem more damaging in areas of low population, whereas the pounds of pollution as they relate to air, water, or other resources are more valuable to those of us who care about a healthy environment for all living things, human or not.

    1. Well Sarah Morgan, I wish more here would address the copy of the article. Thank You for noticing I have my eye on the ball.
      I also like the words you use in raising your concern.
      I can appreciate no longer eating chicken or wanting chickens raised organically. Is that the topic or point of this study though ? Our local chicken farms and county supervisors are not considering or addressing any of that. They may claim to be showing us concern for the new chicken farm boom, but are they really addressing it and making the results public ?
      Are appearance and odor their biggest or only concerns ? While they should be concerns they are not the areas that have the worst potential for serious problems.
      Groundwater. Groundwater.Groundwater. THAT is the concern. How many gallons a day are removed from the aquifer by a chicken farm ? Of course it depends on the size of each new chicken house and the number of chickens in it. But give us some numbers. How much water do they use ? That water comes from the same aquifer we all get our well water from. The chickens drink the water and then pass it back out onto a dirt floor. It goes back down into the aquifer. We all have septic systems at our houses. Do the chicken houses ? That brings in the subject of their poop. That goes into the dirt. How much of THAT ends up leaching back into the aquifer untreated ? Are all the wells of all the homes around the new chicken houses being tested for a base rating, so that future tests will show any change to the quality of that homes well water ? Which house is upstream and which is downstream from the new chicken house ? Has a study been done around each new farm to even know the direction of the underground flow ? If our supervisors make a mistake, and allow too many chicken houses, and local areas around them have wells destroyed, who pays for that ? How is the value of the home recovered ? Just how much study of the aquifer and hydrology have our supervisors done ? Or have they made the dreaded mistake of taking the word of Tyson and Perdue that all is safe ? And of reading and accepting general stats released by the federal government ? Every farmer knows each location is different and each location produces different results. How is that being addressed ? These things have been approved and gone up so fast it looks like the only thing that holds them up is rainwater and slow drainage. And speaking of which, the hydrology of the area is seriously affected by frequent rain and/or a drought time. What is the different effect on the local aquifer and our water supply when there is too much rain or not enough ?
      If our water gets ruined, what do you think we have to go through to fix it ? What does it do to us in the meantime ? Has anyone read about a large city in the central U.S. that found lead in their water ? Do you think chicken poop is a smaller negative ?
      Those are my concerns. I have no problem with any company providing jobs, making tons of money, or paying taxes. I do have a problem with any thoughts that believe that the presence of Big Chicken gives them special consideration to dump chicken pee or poop in our groundwater; or of using so much water that nearby wells go dry. I am not allowed to use up their water, or stop by their place and leave all my family bathroom waste products on their lawn. I EXPECT that no one is allowing them to destroy our water. Am I wrong ?

  6. There is something we can do – Take Action! The USDA intends to withdraw the firm rule for organic poultry standards, but we can submit comments online at the Federal Register through January 17, 2018. Here’s the link: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/12/18/2017-27316/national-organic-program-nop-organic-livestock-and-poultry-practices-withdrawal#open-comment

    It doesn’t have to be long or fancy! In a sentence or two, you can explain why these organic poultry standards are important to you, and why you think it matters that chickens to have true access to the outdoors as well as freedom from cruel procedures like debeaking.

    These current organic poultry standards are important for both animal and human health. While not perfect, current standards help ensure that our food is ethically produced by clearly defining “outdoors” and by banning debeaking and other cruel “physical alterations”. Like people, chickens are equipped with a nervous system and need freedom from cruelty with continued true access to the outdoors.

    1. If you want more information on Poultry houses you might want to go to this at the Town of Painter Town hall:
      January 8th at 7:30 pm the Town of Painter is holding a joint public hearing on proposed changes to the town zoning ordinance which would adopt new regulations for the construction of poultry houses in and around the town edge of Painter.

  7. If the county officials continue to ignore the community wishes. They will find themselves in the same situation as those in Sussex Delaware. Pollution in the water and the military handing out drinking water to their citizens.

    Read article in The News Journal Published February 16, 2018

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