History of the California Community and the Perdue Slaughterhouse
In the year 1909, tragedy struck as the Salisbury dam burst and water flooded the surrounding area. The area then became swampland which caused the price of the land to plummet. Some would view this as a negative situation; however, low-income families saw this as the beginning of a new opportunity. A lower income, primarily black community bought up this swampland and named their newfound community Georgetown, or Cuba (look to the "Georgetown, Cuba" section for more details on the area). However, this community was short lived. In the beginning of the 1930s the city of Salisbury decided this Georgetown community would be perfect to place Highway 13. The highway ran straight through the community, with the city providing no sort of compensation to those who had been displaced. The low income and black community of Georgetown then moved to the other side of the Wicomico River to what is now known as the California Community.
This California Community was originally owned by Jehu Parsons who purchased the land in 1847 and named it California after the Gold Rush in the state of California. The members of the former Georgetown community thrived in this area, but again, only for a short time. Black owned shops were opened in the community and a commercial/ industrial area began to grow. However, these businesses began to take customers away from the white businesses nearby. This called for the white citizens to take action and begin to create false claims about the black businesses. The thought of communisum infiltrating the United States had striken fear into the hearts of almost all citizens. With this in mind creating false communist allegations aginst the black owned buisnesses led to the California community being heavily policed and for many to lose what little income they had (1973). Because of this, the California Community’s peak was short lived as the low income and black communities began to move north to the Jersey Heights and Manokin neighborhoods. This migration has continues to this day as the Jersey Heights and Manokin neighborhoods continues to grow and conditions within the California community have become more difficult. (For more information on Jersey Heights and Manokin please refer to their respective sections).
This California Community was originally owned by Jehu Parsons who purchased the land in 1847 and named it California after the Gold Rush in the state of California. The members of the former Georgetown community thrived in this area, but again, only for a short time. Black owned shops were opened in the community and a commercial/ industrial area began to grow. However, these businesses began to take customers away from the white businesses nearby. This called for the white citizens to take action and begin to create false claims about the black businesses. The thought of communisum infiltrating the United States had striken fear into the hearts of almost all citizens. With this in mind creating false communist allegations aginst the black owned buisnesses led to the California community being heavily policed and for many to lose what little income they had (1973). Because of this, the California Community’s peak was short lived as the low income and black communities began to move north to the Jersey Heights and Manokin neighborhoods. This migration has continues to this day as the Jersey Heights and Manokin neighborhoods continues to grow and conditions within the California community have become more difficult. (For more information on Jersey Heights and Manokin please refer to their respective sections).
What's happening now?
Today the Fitzwater (California) Community is faced by many unpleasant locations nearby such as the Chesapeake Ship building site, a sewage pump, two ground stone storage facilites and a heating oil station. Although these facilites do not always pose an active threat to the community, there is always an increase risk because of them. However, the main drag to the community is the Perdue Chicken Slaughterhouse which, under EPA standards, is considered a small quantity generator due to its releases. Being a small quantity generator, the Perdue Chicken Slaughterhouse is held to much harsher standards with their releases and is not allowed to exceed a set amount of chemicals used on site. The slaughterhouse lays just northeast of the community at the intersection of Cypress and Willow Street. Here at the Perdue Slaughterhouse, countless chickens are laid to rest in order for Perdue to keep up its margins for its 7-billion-dollar company. The slaughterhouse releases about 200,000lbs of peroxidic acid into the nearby waterway after their facility cleans it and the city of Salisbury cleans it. At this point the water is considered to be "safe" even though it was previously used to sanitize the freshly killed poultry. Peroxidic acid can have severe health effects on those exposed to it for long periods of time mainly attacking the respiratory system and also can be very damaging to the skin as it is highly corrosive. Much like the other facilities nearby the Fitzwater (California) Community, the Perdue Chicken Slaughterhouse does not always elicit that there is an active threat to the community, but it has the highest risk of impact if not maintained properly. This can be seen as the facility has had an explosion happen on site in 2005 when a truck unloaded chemicals into the wrong storage unit. This resulted in the driver and two employees being injured and the facility had to be shut down for a short time (Guy, 2005).
The effects of Perdue have been around long before Perdue set up its slaughterhouse next to the California community as Perdue did not arrive at the location until 1969. Before Perdue was there, Swift and Co. had their poultry broiler set up in the same location for the same reasons of production. Being poultry processing plants, both Swift and Perdue are producers of a pungent smell that comes off of what is referred to as “chicken sludge”. Essentially, the remains and the waste are piled all together within the facility and the smell is wafted away into the nearby community. Under EPA Environmental Protection Regualtions, Air Pollution Control, Chapter 5, this smell is a violation and Perdue should be subject to future violations as the article states that all Industiral Processes to contain all smells at their facilites so that they are not released into the atmosphere.
The effects of Perdue have been around long before Perdue set up its slaughterhouse next to the California community as Perdue did not arrive at the location until 1969. Before Perdue was there, Swift and Co. had their poultry broiler set up in the same location for the same reasons of production. Being poultry processing plants, both Swift and Perdue are producers of a pungent smell that comes off of what is referred to as “chicken sludge”. Essentially, the remains and the waste are piled all together within the facility and the smell is wafted away into the nearby community. Under EPA Environmental Protection Regualtions, Air Pollution Control, Chapter 5, this smell is a violation and Perdue should be subject to future violations as the article states that all Industiral Processes to contain all smells at their facilites so that they are not released into the atmosphere.
what is being done?
As of now there is no action within the community to fight back Perdue and their peroxidic acid releases nor the smell that they produce. Peroxidic acid is a troubling chemical to work with as it is highly reactive and explosive if exposed to the correct conditions. Because of this, the easiest way to handle peroxidic acid is to neutralize it with alkaline solutions. This will lower the acidity of the chemical and reduce its overall impacts after both the slaughterhouse and city treats it. As for the smell that comes from the Perdue slaughterhouse not much can be done to contain the smell as the facility is subject to the elements and any winds that may blow the fumes away. There are some studies being done by BIOLOGIC who are developing a compound that is said to be able to be sprayed within slaughterhouses that will help break down the chicken sludge and reduce its smell (2022).
conclusion
Although the Perdue Slaughterhouse creates a large risk for the Fitzwater (California) Community, it also provides many people with the oppurtunity for employment. Due to its prime location near the middle of Salisbury, it is one of the few places that almost all have the ability to walk to. Perdue also welcomes all workers and does not require much skill when hiring as they provide their employees with the training that they need. Perdue also creates oppurtunities for employees to work their way up and get better positions for themselves the longer they are with the company.
Community Demographics (2019-2020)
- 36% < of children within the community are living in poverty
- 10-20% Unemployment rate within the community
- 31-50% of the community does not have reliable access to a vehicle
- 31-50% of the community does not have a high school diploma
- 56% of the community is black
- Average income within the community is >$45000
additional resources
EPA Restrictions on large scale firms producing noxious smells without containing them:
- https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-10/documents/2003-vt-section-5-241.pdf
- https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2005-12-14-0512140261-story.html
- https://ejscreen.epa.gov/mapper/
- https://scicorp.net/crying-foul-odors-at-the-slaughter-house/