September 17, 2010

Pilgrim's Pride poultry plant continue to emit pungent smell

Regulators are looking into pungent odours that continue to emanate from a Pilgrim's Pride poultry processing plant, despite the installation of equipment to mitigate the smells.

Keith Fowler with the Virginia Department Environmental Quality said that the agency plans to determine by Friday (Sep 17) what action it can take to address the problem.

Town Manager Austin Garber said Wednesday that the smell has been unbearable for the past couple days. Timberville officials requested the investigation.

Pilgrim's Pride spokesman Gary Rhodes attributed the odours to a dryer malfunction. He said the company is working to fix the problem.

Rhodes said the dryer isn't part of the odour mitigation equipment.