A proposed slaughterhouse is turning the stomachs of some Quad Cities residents.
Triumph Foods wants to build a processing facility in East Moline. It sparked a controversy in the Downstate area for the past five years. The Missouri-based company is reportedly considering starting construction in the spring and has begun lining up contracts with hog suppliers to raise the animals in confinement, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Mayor John Thodos told the paper the slaughterhouse would cut into the area's high unemployment, which doubled in five years.
However, opponents are turning up their noses claiming the facility will lower their property values, stink up the air and damage the environment. They fear Triumph will push up the demand for more animals in the area.
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Phil Hare threw their support behind millions in loan guarantees from the USDA to build the plant. That's on top of the nearly $5 million in economic assistance East Moline is seeking from the U.S. Department of Commerce for water and sewer construction near the plant site.
"This will put at least 600 people to work on construction," Hare said to the Tribune. "We shouldn't summarily thumb our nose at (these jobs) because of something that potentially might happen. We can act out of fear again or we can act out of trying to improve our economy."
