Advocates in Georgia want Gov. Brian Kemp to delay the opening of a poultry plant where six people died last month due to a chemical leak.
A coalition has written a letter addressed to the governor calling for an inspection to make sure the plant is safe before workers go back.
Shelly Anand heads the workers’ rights group Sur Legal Collaborative, one of the organizations in the coalition. She says being a pro-business state also means protecting workers.
“And having to hold employers accountable when workers are killed. When workers die,” says Anand. “He [Kemp] needs to be asking the same questions of these poultry facilities, of Foundation Food Group: ‘What are you doing to make sure it’s safe for workers to return?’”
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is already investigating the chemical leak at the Foundation Food Group plant in Gainesville. So far, investigators said “unresolved operational issues” with a chicken conveyor are linked to the nitrogen leak.
But a complete investigation can take years.
The governor’s office said it would have to check with state attorneys about the possibility of delaying the plant reopening.
The letter was also addressed to officials in the Georgia Department of Public Health. A spokesperson said that the organization has neither the expertise nor jurisdiction to investigate the leak.
Activists held a caravan in Gainesville on Monday morning.
“We decided to do a solidarity caravan to show them [workers] folks are here with them, folks are paying attention to what’s going on,” says Maria del Rosario Palacios, executive director of GA Familias Unidas.
The organization is also part of the coalition that sent the letter to officials. Organizers encouraged only U.S. citizens to attend the caravan to protect undocumented workers from possible deportation.
In a statement, the Foundation Food Group said, “Foundation Food Group continues to work with all regulatory authorities and will resume operations only after all appropriate authorities have consented that it is safe to do so. The portion of the line where the incident occurred will remain shut down and locked out for the foreseeable future.”
