By Frank Schier
Editor & publisher

The Carpentersville-based Trim-Rite, Inc., dropped its controversial proposal to locate a hog slaughtering plant at the site of the former Cavel horse slaughtering plant in DeKalb.

“We have found another location in Rantoul, Ill., that is perfectly suited to our needs and that allows us to begin operations much more quickly,” said James S. Jendruczek, president of Trim-Rite. “DeKalb is a great city, and we appreciate the support the business and civic leaders gave us and our project. However, we found another opportunity that allows us to begin producing the best pork in the world much more quickly.”

Opposition from property owners around the proposed site was substantial, as was opposition from Quad Cities Waterkeeper Art Norris, who writes a column for this paper and opposes a proposed Triumph Foods hog plant on the Rock River in East Moline as well.

Norris said: “I’m glad their new plant is not on a waterway, and it’s not an environmentally fragile site. This saves around 50,000 hogs being slaughtered every year on the banks of the Kishwaukee River. The semis coming in and out of there would be bad because those 18-wheelers drop oil, shoot exhaust and noise. The smell and the hog feces can be very, very bad. It’s a big win! With the H1N1 swine flu going around, I imagine the people who live around there are pretty happy, too.”

Doug Climenhaga, a nearby property owner and protest leader, said, “I feel as if I should write a thank-you note to Jim [president of Trim-Rite]. I wish Jim well with all of his endeavors.

“I feel relieved for our business, our employees and my neighborhood around it. I think there was a lot of people working on it that I didn’t even know were doing it. Paul, our neighbor to the north, brought it to our attention, and he had a whole group of people. William Farley, to the south, said it’s time to close the chapter on slaughtering in this part of the county. They really went out and did some research. We’re industrial, but even the people in condos on First Street and Fairview wouldn’t have been able to sit out on their decks.

“You guys have to be pleased,” concluded Climenhaga.

This paper helped to forge the “Save the Kishwaukee” Committee during the Winnebago County 2030 Land Resource Management Plan process, published articles about this new potential problem to the Kishwaukee, and was pleased to even see Facebook postings by local resident and Augustana student Jimmy Johannsen, urging protest calls to the DeKalb City Council.

Addressing its withdrawal, a press release from the company stated, “Trim-Rite had applied to amend the special-use permit on a property at 108 Harvestore Drive, in a Heavy Industrial zone of DeKalb.

“Trim-Rite operates a meat-processing plant in Carpentersville, Ill., serving high-end customers around the world.”

In a lengthy editorial meeting with this paper, Jendruczek stressed how concerned he was for the environment and water quality. He also noted the company has a line of antibiotic-free meat, and is touted as a model for the pork industry across the country, bringing in new design and humane practices from as far away as Denmark.

Kurt A. Irelan, Trim-Rite’s construction manager, said: “We have a better opportunity in Rantoul at Meadowbrook Farms. It’s a bigger facility that allows pork processing and pork slaughtering. It’s an excellent deal, and the plant is only six years old. We can get up and running six months earlier than we could in Dekalb.”

From the Aug. 11-17, 2010 issue