ELDRIDGE – About 30 people, concerned about the influx of hog confinement operations that will come with a proposed pork processing plant in East Moline, gathered to debate the issue.

The Saturday meeting at the Eldridge Public Library came just a day after Triumph Foods announced plans to build the meat processing plant.

Opponents outnumbered those who favored the plant. Many were concerned that the plant will also require numerous hog confinement operations to move in within about 60 miles.

Carolyn Muir of Milan, Ill., said she lives about an eighth-of-a-mile from a confinement operation in Reynolds, Ill.

“The stench is unbelievable,” she said, adding that the waste will pollute the area’s groundwater.

As a member of Families Against Animal Confinement Threats, Muir said the pork producer began erecting the confinement facility in July and it was in operation by early November.

She said areas with hog confinements tend to have depreciating property values.

Karen Hudson, a factory farm consultant from west-central Illinois who is president of Families Against Rural Messes, said that the water-quality issues are broader than most people believe.

Most of the antibiotics given to the animals are excreted in their waste which works its way into the water. That leads to resistant pathogens that affect humans, she said.

“And then you have the air-quality issues, such as dangerous levels of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, as well as dust-borne pathogens,” she said. “There are not enough regulations to protect the people. The only way the big corporations can make a profit is by bending the rules.”

Terry Spence, a factory farm consultant from northeast Missouri, said such plants often bring with them costs people don’t anticipate. He said those costs involve hospitalization for workers without health insurance, upkeep of roadways and education for migrant workers.

Terry Bush of Davenport, a retired steel worker, said he was greatly concerned about working conditions.

Scott County pork producer Ross Paustian said that he had heard “so much baloney today.”

He said all of agriculture seems to be getting the blame for a few polluters, and that the speakers twisted the figures around to put a bad spin on the situation.

“I know there are problems out there,” he said, but added that there is no reason to believe there will be that many hog confinement operations popping up in the area.

“It’s not uncommon for these processing plants to ship hogs in from as far away as 300 to 400 miles,” he said.

Tracey Kuehl of rural Bettendorf said that Triumph should be up front with Quad-City residents.

“We should be asking Triumph what good will be coming out of this plant,” she said. “What are the implications and what good is it going to do for this area.”