Would new Aiken chicken plant mean closure of West Columbia slaughterhouse?

One of the biggest poultry production companies in the Southeast is trying to open a large chicken processing plant near Aiken that would be just 50 miles down the road from an aging and much-maligned slaughterhouse the company owns in West Columbia.

That has sparked questions about whether House of Raeford will close the West Columbia plant if it receives approval to build the new poultry facility along Interstate 20 near U.S 1 in Aiken County.

The Aiken County plant would employ 900 people – slightly more than in West Columbia – and pay $18 an hour. The facility has been courted by Aiken County leaders who say it would boost the local economy.

The issue in Aiken may come to a head soon. Both the Aiken City Council and Aiken County Council are expected in the next month to consider ordinances on whether to grant incentives to attract the company to the area. Plans to provide tax breaks and lower water and sewer rates are under discussion.

Asked about the company’s plans for Aiken and the future of the West Columbia plant, a House of Raeford spokesman said, “Currently this matter is much too premature to provide any comments.’’

But speculation is growing about whether the opening in Aiken is tied to the continued operation of the West Columbia plant, with three local leaders telling The State on background that they’re hearing if the new plant is approved, House of Raeford could move on from the local facility that is often singled out as an eyesore and a nuisance.

Strategically, the Aiken County site could be a good one for House of Raeford. It is located near an interstate and just one county away from the existing West Columbia operation in Lexington County.

House of Raeford’s West Columbia plant, perched on the banks of the Congaree River and surrounded by development, opened more than 60 years ago. House of Raeford acquired the facility in 1998, when it purchased Columbia Farms, a locally owned poultry company.

The plant is seen by many in the area as a nuisance. The smell it produces frequently wafts over the West Columbia Riverwalk that runs behind it and the nearby Brookland mixed-use development and State Street, a rapidly growing hub for dining and nightlife, dotted with hotspots such as Black Rooster, Terra and Savage Craft Ale Works.

The latest rumblings that the plant might leave come with speculation also growing as to what redevelopment could be coming to the Capitol Square shopping center across U.S. 378 from the plant. It’s bereft of tenants following the December closure of Chinese restaurant Jin Jin after nearly three decades, and the recently sold building previously occupied by Al’s Upstairs Italian Restaurant, which also closed in December.

West Columbia City Councilman David Moye, whose district borders the plant, wouldn’t say that future development in the area hinges on House of Raeford’s departure.

But he said the plant’s future will have a lot to say about how development in the area progresses.

“It’s how fast people are willing to invest and the quality of the product they’re willing to put out there,” he said, explaining that the chicken plant and the challenges it poses could push developers to install lower quality buildings and pursue less ambitious uses to mitigate their risk.

“Things that form odors, things that cause nuisances” could push them toward that approach, Moye added.

“If the chicken plant were gone, then there would be a lot more organic, high quality development happening in that area. And there’s not many areas of Lexington County that can be developed in a way where they can be economic drivers for the rest of the county without there being a high cost in terms of traffic, but this is one of those areas.”

State Rep. Micah Caskey, R-Lexington, who represents the area, expressed similar feelings about how House of Raeford exiting could open up big possibilities, saying firm news of the plant’s departure would be like “Christmas in April.”

It would be “an exciting change for the community to seize on and I think we’ll slowly see more development and growth here on the river,” he said, adding that he doesn’t mean to disparage the way the company had handled itself in West Columbia.

Still, House of Raeford pulling out would be a loss in other ways. It would send a considerable number of jobs out of the city to a spot about an hour away. In addition, Moye said, the plant is far and away the city’s largest water customer, and the departure in the short-term would mean losing that revenue along with other taxes and fees the company pays to the city.

Tim James, a City Council member in neighboring Cayce and the president and CEO of the Greater Cayce West Columbia Chamber, emphasized the positive influence House of Raeford has in the community.

“It is a very fine balance in that they have been great corporate partners in assisting a lot of nonprofits and organizations in the greater Cayce-West Columbia area for many, many years,” he said. “And I think that they, too, have recognized that the property that they’re on could be better used for something else. And so that just goes in line, I believe, with their being good neighbors. They’re recognizing if there’s a place for them to be able to go to, where they can continue to operate in a very effective and efficient manner and release that property for future use, then it’s a win-win.”

Considering the development opportunity presented by the plant’s spot between the Jarvis Klapman Boulevard and Gervais Street bridges into downtown Columbia and logistical issues such as trucks at the plant blocking traffic on busy U.S. 378, whatever happens with the potential move to Aiken, Moye said the long-term fate of the plant is clear.

“I don’t think any chicken plant can operate in that location forever,” he said.

House of Raeford, headquartered in Rose Hill, N.C, traces its roots to 1955, when three poultry growers formed a partnership and built a feed mill, according to the company’s website.

The family-owned company later expanded and today is among the top 10 chicken producers in the country, operating in the Carolinas, Georgia and Louisiana. The company contracts with hundreds of farms for chickens, then slaughters and processes the birds for market. In South Carolina, the company employs more than 1,400 people overall.

While local leaders in Aiken County have courted House of Raeford to open a plant there because of the jobs it would bring, the company has encountered recent opposition from residents who have complained about potential odors, impacts on water supplies and disruption of their community. A large subdivision is not far from the site just outside of Aiken.

Aiken County Councilman Phil Napier said he’s been inundated with calls from people who worry about allowing the plant there. The plant would use substantial amounts of water and take up much of the sewer capacity in an Aiken County plant, he said.

“They are worried about the potential smell, feathers flying – they just don’t feel like it is a suitable fit for the area,’’ he said, noting that the amount of water to be used would be equivalent to thousands of homes.

“I think opponents will pack the house,’’ Napier said of the coming meetings to consider incentives to attract House of Raeford to Aiken.

While providing jobs, poultry processing plants are often criticized because of the odors they produce and the waste they generate. Such plants slaughter birds, creating a waste stream that can include blood and chicken parts.

In West Columbia, questions have been raised about worker conditions and compensation at the chicken plant.

A 2008 series by The Charlotte Observer outlined problems in the poultry processing industry, including concerns about the West Columbia plant. The newspaper found that House of Raeford had masked the extent of worker injuries at some of its plants. The company denied that.