Citizens Against A Ukiah Slaughterhouse
(CAUS)
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A Closer Look...
Below is hard data resulting from research done by CAUS members regarding various aspects of a slaughterhouse. This is a closer look into why a large-scale meat processing facility is a bad idea for the Ukiah Valley. The risks, as you'll see, far outweigh any meager benefits.
It is estimated that a minimum of 50,000 cattle will be slaughtered yearly, or 200 daily, based on the proposals of North Coast Meats and Mendocino Abattoir. Proponents hope to obtain up to 30 acres for the facility.
Impact on Housing Prices
According to The Appraisal Journal, property prices have fallen from 6% to 100% within a 3-mile radius of a slaughterhouse. The property adjacent to the plant usually drops the most. Those who currently live in Ukiah will be tempted to move, while outsiders will be reluctant to buy property in the Ukiah valley.
Loss of Tax Revenue
Estimates indicate the proposed slaughterhouse would use the same amount of water as 154 houses. The average cost of a house in the Ukiah Valley area is approximately $440,000; last year single- and multi-family dwellings sold in the area at an average cost of $444,680.
If the water that it would take to run the slaughterhouse for one year was used instead to supply the needs of 154 new houses in the area, multiplied by the average cost of local houses, it would equal a $67,760,000 increase in local housing values. This would equate to an increase in locally generated property taxes of $745,360 per year, the majority of which (63%) goes directly to local school districts.
The expenditure of $67,760,000 to build 154 new houses would also generate increased salaries for local carpenters and construction workers, who would purchase building materials locally to generate approximately $1,700,000 in new sales tax revenues. A large portion of this increased sales tax would go to local public safety organizations such as the fire, police, and sheriff’s departments.
Conversely, if the 77 acre-feet of water is directed to a slaughterhouse, which is expected to cost $10,000,000, only $100,000 in new property taxes would be generated, and since most of the equipment used in a slaughterhouse will not be available through local businesses (Do you know any local business that sells large scale meat processing equipment?), there will be almost no increase in local sales tax from the construction of the slaughterhouse. Likewise, since there is no sales tax on food products there will be no sales tax generated through the operation of the facility.
Predictable Pollution & Contamination
Proponents expect to hold animals on site “for several days” before slaughter. This means approx. 600 animals will be standing in the 30-acre grazing lot at any one time.
• The Mendocino County Department of Agriculture recommends no more than 1 cow per acre to avoid turning land into a mud lot.
• One cow makes about 15 gallons of urine per day; 600 cows make about 9,000 gallons of urine. The most conservative estimates suggest 1 cow makes 65 pounds of manure each day, so 600 cows make at least 39,000 pounds—every single day.
With enormous amounts of urine and manure dropping onto bare land each day, cattle will be standing in a morass of excrement. When the rainy season comes, the mess will be compounded.
• In addition, since the plant will be built in a flood plain there is the danger of river and ground water contamination when it rains.
• The Ukiah valley has an inversion layer that prevents air from circulating out of the valley, so noxious smells and air pollution will be unavoidable.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Iowa State University, and the University of Iowa have concluded that manure-related air pollutants from slaughterhouses may constitute a public health hazard. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy cites fever, nausea, dizziness, respiratory distress, and exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria as potential risks.
Severe Drain on Water & Sewage
One proponent estimates that a staggering 25,000,000 gallons of water will be required to process 50,000 cattle each year (or 500 gallons per cow). That’s equivalent to more than 77 acre-feet of water per year, or enough water to supply 154 homes.
A Ukiah City Council member recently stated in a public forum that the city does not currently have enough water to supply existing development in a dry year. Ukiah’s already overburdened waste treatment system will be further strained by the large amount of waste produced by the facility.
Low Paying, Dangerous Jobs
Slaughterhouses typically have a 100% turnover rate each year. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists the meat packing industry is one of the most hazardous. Because they typically pay low wages (one slaughterhouse proposal cites “lower labor costs” as a reason to locate in the Ukiah area), they often attract outsiders who have difficulty finding jobs elsewhere. High injury rates will put stress on local social services and hospitals.
Lack of Localization
The scale of the proposed slaughterhouse is all wrong with regard to the growing localization movement. The slaughterhouse will bring livestock to Ukiah from Marin and Sonoma counties, as well as other counties in northern California. In 2005 Mendocino County slaughtered only 17,262 cattle and sheep. That means more than 30,000 animals will come from outside Mendocino County. Remember, the Ukiah valley is basically agrarian, whereas the large-scale slaughterhouse being proposed will exist to mainly serve the meat processing needs of ranchers in Marin and Sonoma counties, and also supply meat to high-end buyers in the Bay Area. This is contrary to the needs and values of economic localization to which the Ukiah community is committed.
Impact on Industry
There is sure to be a drop in local business as fewer tourists come to Ukiah and unhappy residents move away. The tourists who would normally come to taste wine and enjoy our hot springs would diminish. This drop-off in business will then impact community services that will feel the long-term impact of diminished tax revenues. The slaughterhouse, because it is a “dirty” industry, will tend to drive away clean businesses that may want to come to the Ukiah valley.
Impact on Quality of Life
If a slaughterhouse is built, Ukiah will be stigmatized as “the town with the slaughterhouse.” The stink and noise, with several trucks coming and going daily, will have a negative effect and drive away future property buyers and deflate housing prices. Our river and soil will become contaminated, and the quality of life for the Ukiah community will be irrevocably degraded.
It is estimated that a minimum of 50,000 cattle will be slaughtered yearly, or 200 daily, based on the proposals of North Coast Meats and Mendocino Abattoir. Proponents hope to obtain up to 30 acres for the facility.
Impact on Housing Prices
According to The Appraisal Journal, property prices have fallen from 6% to 100% within a 3-mile radius of a slaughterhouse. The property adjacent to the plant usually drops the most. Those who currently live in Ukiah will be tempted to move, while outsiders will be reluctant to buy property in the Ukiah valley.
Loss of Tax Revenue
Estimates indicate the proposed slaughterhouse would use the same amount of water as 154 houses. The average cost of a house in the Ukiah Valley area is approximately $440,000; last year single- and multi-family dwellings sold in the area at an average cost of $444,680.
If the water that it would take to run the slaughterhouse for one year was used instead to supply the needs of 154 new houses in the area, multiplied by the average cost of local houses, it would equal a $67,760,000 increase in local housing values. This would equate to an increase in locally generated property taxes of $745,360 per year, the majority of which (63%) goes directly to local school districts.
The expenditure of $67,760,000 to build 154 new houses would also generate increased salaries for local carpenters and construction workers, who would purchase building materials locally to generate approximately $1,700,000 in new sales tax revenues. A large portion of this increased sales tax would go to local public safety organizations such as the fire, police, and sheriff’s departments.
Conversely, if the 77 acre-feet of water is directed to a slaughterhouse, which is expected to cost $10,000,000, only $100,000 in new property taxes would be generated, and since most of the equipment used in a slaughterhouse will not be available through local businesses (Do you know any local business that sells large scale meat processing equipment?), there will be almost no increase in local sales tax from the construction of the slaughterhouse. Likewise, since there is no sales tax on food products there will be no sales tax generated through the operation of the facility.
Predictable Pollution & Contamination
Proponents expect to hold animals on site “for several days” before slaughter. This means approx. 600 animals will be standing in the 30-acre grazing lot at any one time.
• The Mendocino County Department of Agriculture recommends no more than 1 cow per acre to avoid turning land into a mud lot.
• One cow makes about 15 gallons of urine per day; 600 cows make about 9,000 gallons of urine. The most conservative estimates suggest 1 cow makes 65 pounds of manure each day, so 600 cows make at least 39,000 pounds—every single day.
With enormous amounts of urine and manure dropping onto bare land each day, cattle will be standing in a morass of excrement. When the rainy season comes, the mess will be compounded.
• In addition, since the plant will be built in a flood plain there is the danger of river and ground water contamination when it rains.
• The Ukiah valley has an inversion layer that prevents air from circulating out of the valley, so noxious smells and air pollution will be unavoidable.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Iowa State University, and the University of Iowa have concluded that manure-related air pollutants from slaughterhouses may constitute a public health hazard. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy cites fever, nausea, dizziness, respiratory distress, and exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria as potential risks.
Severe Drain on Water & Sewage
One proponent estimates that a staggering 25,000,000 gallons of water will be required to process 50,000 cattle each year (or 500 gallons per cow). That’s equivalent to more than 77 acre-feet of water per year, or enough water to supply 154 homes.
A Ukiah City Council member recently stated in a public forum that the city does not currently have enough water to supply existing development in a dry year. Ukiah’s already overburdened waste treatment system will be further strained by the large amount of waste produced by the facility.
Low Paying, Dangerous Jobs
Slaughterhouses typically have a 100% turnover rate each year. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists the meat packing industry is one of the most hazardous. Because they typically pay low wages (one slaughterhouse proposal cites “lower labor costs” as a reason to locate in the Ukiah area), they often attract outsiders who have difficulty finding jobs elsewhere. High injury rates will put stress on local social services and hospitals.
Lack of Localization
The scale of the proposed slaughterhouse is all wrong with regard to the growing localization movement. The slaughterhouse will bring livestock to Ukiah from Marin and Sonoma counties, as well as other counties in northern California. In 2005 Mendocino County slaughtered only 17,262 cattle and sheep. That means more than 30,000 animals will come from outside Mendocino County. Remember, the Ukiah valley is basically agrarian, whereas the large-scale slaughterhouse being proposed will exist to mainly serve the meat processing needs of ranchers in Marin and Sonoma counties, and also supply meat to high-end buyers in the Bay Area. This is contrary to the needs and values of economic localization to which the Ukiah community is committed.
Impact on Industry
There is sure to be a drop in local business as fewer tourists come to Ukiah and unhappy residents move away. The tourists who would normally come to taste wine and enjoy our hot springs would diminish. This drop-off in business will then impact community services that will feel the long-term impact of diminished tax revenues. The slaughterhouse, because it is a “dirty” industry, will tend to drive away clean businesses that may want to come to the Ukiah valley.
Impact on Quality of Life
If a slaughterhouse is built, Ukiah will be stigmatized as “the town with the slaughterhouse.” The stink and noise, with several trucks coming and going daily, will have a negative effect and drive away future property buyers and deflate housing prices. Our river and soil will become contaminated, and the quality of life for the Ukiah community will be irrevocably degraded.
