Chicken plant on hold after appeal ruling in Douglas

DOUGLAS - A proposed south Georgia chicken plant that could be the state’s largest poultry operation is on hold after Superior Court Judge J. Kelly Brooks found it would likely harm locals’ health and property values and damage the nearby Satilla River.

The proposal had 60 chicken houses, each with more than 25,000 birds, which are projected to produce at least 40,000 pounds of litter roughly every eight weeks - about how long they will be on site - and up to 450,000 carcasses onsite per year.

“According to the defendants, this waste, including dead carcasses, will be periodically hauled off site, but will sit in the houses for months before being sold,” wrote Judge Brooks in his order halting the project while a legal trial continues.