N.S. poultry plant closure a blow to operators, community, and maybe Christmas turkey supply
Eden Valley Poultry is helping local producers find out-of-province processors
Taryn Grant · CBC News · Posted: Dec 12, 2020
Six cases of COVID-19 have been identified at Eden Valley Poultry in Berwick, N.S.
(Google Street View)
The closure of a poultry plant in Berwick, N.S., where an outbreak of COVID-19 was detected this week is a blow to operators, employees, the town and could even be felt by Nova Scotians looking to buy a Christmas turkey — but all those involved say it was the right thing to do.
Berwick Mayor Don Clarke said the shutdown has had an immediately noticeable impact on the town, causing business and traffic to go quiet.
Eden Valley Poultry is Berwick's biggest employer and the biggest customer for the town's self-owned electric utility, according to Clarke. It also draws its employees, about 450, from around the Annapolis Valley.
Clarke said the economic impact of the two-week closure isn't measurable yet from the town's perspective, but he expects that in the long-term, it will have been worth it.
"Having COVID in a plant that size with that many people in confined spaces and so on, is a serious situation," said Clarke.
"What they're doing is the necessary thing to do."
COVID-19 outbreak declared at Annapolis Valley poultry plant
Public Health ordered the closure of the poultry facility earlier this week after finding two cases of the virus among employees. Widespread testing has since revealed four more, with some results still pending and plans to re-test all employees next week.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Robert Strang announced Friday the plant would have to stay closed for at least two weeks in an effort to disrupt the cycle of transmission.
That two-week order runs until Christmas day, but Eden Valley president Werner Barnard said they'll wait until the following Monday, Dec. 28, to reopen.
'Devastating' impact for the business
"I think any business that shuts its doors for two weeks has a devastating financial impact, that's a given," said Barnard.
But, he added, the nature of Eden Valley's business means the impact extends to every other business in the supply chain.
Over the course of the planned closure, Barnard said the plant would have processed more than 800,000 chicken and turkey. Eden Valley works with about 60 producers in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and has customers across the country and internationally.
Werner Bernard says Eden Valley Poultry typically processes about 400,000 turkey and chicken weekly from producers in Nova Scotia and P.E.I. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)
Barnard said even though the plant isn't operating, there's still lots of work happening with producers, customers and other processors to mitigate the effects of Eden Valley's closure.
As the only federally regulated poultry processor in Nova Scotia, Barnard said birds that would have gone through Eden Valley will likely now be shipped out of province for processing, possibly limiting the local supply.
He called that "a blow to the community," in light of the upcoming Christmas demand for turkeys, and a concern for food security.
Employee paycheques in limbo
While employees await the second round of testing, Public Health has instructed them to self-isolate.
Among those waiting for test results is Lee Gee, who has worked at the plant for 40 years, including more than 30 years under a previous owner.
While he waits, Gee said he's being kept busy with phone calls from other Eden Valley labourers. Gee is the president of Unifor Local 2261, which represents about 360 Eden Valley employees.
"Everybody is concerned about their health … and this close to Christmas, with everything going on, with their pay," Gee said in an interview.
The closure of a poultry plant in Berwick, N.S., where an outbreak of COVID-19 was detected this week is a blow to operators, employees, the town and could even be felt by Nova Scotians looking to buy a Christmas turkey — but all those involved say it was the right thing to do.
Berwick Mayor Don Clarke said the shutdown has had an immediately noticeable impact on the town, causing business and traffic to go quiet.
Eden Valley Poultry is Berwick's biggest employer and the biggest customer for the town's self-owned electric utility, according to Clarke. It also draws its employees, about 450, from around the Annapolis Valley.
Clarke said the economic impact of the two-week closure isn't measurable yet from the town's perspective, but he expects that in the long-term, it will have been worth it.
"Having COVID in a plant that size with that many people in confined spaces and so on, is a serious situation," said Clarke.
"What they're doing is the necessary thing to do."
COVID-19 outbreak declared at Annapolis Valley poultry plant
Public Health ordered the closure of the poultry facility earlier this week after finding two cases of the virus among employees. Widespread testing has since revealed four more, with some results still pending and plans to re-test all employees next week.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Robert Strang announced Friday the plant would have to stay closed for at least two weeks in an effort to disrupt the cycle of transmission.
That two-week order runs until Christmas day, but Eden Valley president Werner Barnard said they'll wait until the following Monday, Dec. 28, to reopen.
'Devastating' impact for the business
"I think any business that shuts its doors for two weeks has a devastating financial impact, that's a given," said Barnard.
But, he added, the nature of Eden Valley's business means the impact extends to every other business in the supply chain.
Over the course of the planned closure, Barnard said the plant would have processed more than 800,000 chicken and turkey. Eden Valley works with about 60 producers in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and has customers across the country and internationally.
Werner Bernard says Eden Valley Poultry typically processes about 400,000 turkey and chicken weekly from producers in Nova Scotia and P.E.I. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)Barnard said even though the plant isn't operating, there's still lots of work happening with producers, customers and other processors to mitigate the effects of Eden Valley's closure.
As the only federally regulated poultry processor in Nova Scotia, Barnard said birds that would have gone through Eden Valley will likely now be shipped out of province for processing, possibly limiting the local supply.
He called that "a blow to the community," in light of the upcoming Christmas demand for turkeys, and a concern for food security.
Employee paycheques in limbo
While employees await the second round of testing, Public Health has instructed them to self-isolate.
Among those waiting for test results is Lee Gee, who has worked at the plant for 40 years, including more than 30 years under a previous owner.
While he waits, Gee said he's being kept busy with phone calls from other Eden Valley labourers. Gee is the president of Unifor Local 2261, which represents about 360 Eden Valley employees.
"Everybody is concerned about their health … and this close to Christmas, with everything going on, with their pay," Gee said in an interview.
Eden Valley Poutry works with about 60 producers from around Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. (Mike Heenan/CBC)
Barnard said he could not guarantee paycheques would be going out as usual during the closure, but "employee welfare and financial security" were on his mind.
"Obviously this time of year it's devastating for employees not to be able to work and earn money … we're busy investigating all options but yes, the intent is to do right by the employees."
Otherwise, Gee said he was satisfied with Eden Valley's response to the outbreak, and he felt the necessary preventive steps had been taken, like scanning employees' body temperatures as they enter each day, installing Plexiglas barriers and enforcing masking and physical distancing.
Public Health says there's no evidence of community spread in Western Nova Scotia, but there was another case of COVID-19 detected in Berwick earlier this week, in addition to the cases at the poultry plant.
A case connected to the Berwick and District School meant that school closed for deep cleaning and contact tracing for several days.
Public Health has since increased testing opportunities in the area, sending one of the province's mobile testing vans and setting up walk-in testing sites.
The walk-in testing will be available at two sites in the area, beginning Sunday:
The Berwick Fire Hall (300 Commercial St., Berwick) on Sunday, Dec. 13 and Monday, Dec. 14 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The site will be closed between 4:30-5:30 p.m.
The Mobile Unit at the Middleton Fire Hall (131 Commercial St., Middleton) on Monday, Dec. 14 from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Tuesday, Dec. 15 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Taryn Grant is a Halifax-based reporter and web writer for CBC Nova Scotia. You can email her with tips and feedback at taryn.grant@cbc.ca
Barnard said he could not guarantee paycheques would be going out as usual during the closure, but "employee welfare and financial security" were on his mind.
"Obviously this time of year it's devastating for employees not to be able to work and earn money … we're busy investigating all options but yes, the intent is to do right by the employees."
Otherwise, Gee said he was satisfied with Eden Valley's response to the outbreak, and he felt the necessary preventive steps had been taken, like scanning employees' body temperatures as they enter each day, installing Plexiglas barriers and enforcing masking and physical distancing.
Public Health says there's no evidence of community spread in Western Nova Scotia, but there was another case of COVID-19 detected in Berwick earlier this week, in addition to the cases at the poultry plant.
A case connected to the Berwick and District School meant that school closed for deep cleaning and contact tracing for several days.
Public Health has since increased testing opportunities in the area, sending one of the province's mobile testing vans and setting up walk-in testing sites.
The walk-in testing will be available at two sites in the area, beginning Sunday:
The Berwick Fire Hall (300 Commercial St., Berwick) on Sunday, Dec. 13 and Monday, Dec. 14 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The site will be closed between 4:30-5:30 p.m.
The Mobile Unit at the Middleton Fire Hall (131 Commercial St., Middleton) on Monday, Dec. 14 from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Tuesday, Dec. 15 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Taryn Grant is a Halifax-based reporter and web writer for CBC Nova Scotia. You can email her with tips and feedback at taryn.grant@cbc.ca
No comments:
Post a Comment