• Meat processing facilities, though necessary, have the potential to be noisy nuisances and significant sources of disease and pollution for air and water.
• The facility would be a new source of pollution in a watershed that’s designated as “impaired” because of elevated concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus.
• The facility would be a potential new source of pollutants near one of Martin County’s lowest income and most ethnically diverse communities.
• There’s no evidence the facility has a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, or plans to follow effluent limitation guidelines or conduct water-quality monitoring.
• The South Florida Water Management District has permitted the facility to withdraw 6.7 million gallons of water per year for 20 years from Florida’s surficial aquifer, despite it being subject to varying levels of saltwater intrusion, especially in Martin County. The SFWMD has designated all of Martin County a Water Resource Caution Area.

Blood, feces, oil, grease, ammonia and antibiotic residue from the proposed slaughterhouse would contribute to harmful algal blooms, including toxic cyanobacteria, Martin County Administrator Don Donaldson wrote to the DEP and SFWMD.

Tim O’Hara is TCPalm’s environment reporter. Contact him at tim.ohara@tcpalm.com.