Facing public scrutiny and a litany of complaints about smells, sounds, and animal entrails being loaded into garbage trucks, Black Earth Meats was told by the local village board that it has 120 days to present a plan to move its slaughterhouse out of town.
The state’s only small organic processing facility, Black Earth Meats employs 40, works with as many as 100 farmers, and slaughters about 20 animals a day. Reportedly, the waste and byproducts generated have been causing problems at the village’s wastewater treatment plant. Managing partner Bartlett Durand refuses to close the business, saying it’s too important to the community, but he will ask the village to compensate him for the building’s value before spending close to $2 million to relocate.
