SIOUX FALLS. S.D. (KELO.com) — Smithfield Foods formally announced it will partially reopen its Sioux Falls pork processing plant on Monday.
In a Wednesday release, the company said it “will take a phased approach to resuming its operations” and expects the facility to be fully operational by late May.
BJ Motley, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 304A, said in the release he toured the facility and “was impressed with the measures put in place to protect employees.” He said he supported reopening the plant.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention compiled a 15-page report in late April outlining recommendations for the plant to reopen safely during the pandemic. Smithfield said it is “in full compliance” with the non-binding guidelines.
Still, concerns remain about safety in the facility, which is over 100 years old.
“I don’t know how you ever get to a point where you say those environments are going to be completely safe, and that’s hard,” Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken said in a CNN interview Tuesday.
TenHaken said the facility’s so-called “kill floor,” where hogs enter the plant to be processed, was a particularly difficult part of the plant to keep safe.
The mayor said he and other government officials were “trying to figure out what that appropriate level of safety looks like.” He and Gov. Kristi Noem have both stressed the importance of reopening the plant.
Closures at plants like Smithfield have put a dent in the nation’s meat supply. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue called reopening Smithfield a national priority while appearing on The Greg Belfrage Show on April 30.
“This is a critical function and a vital function of the U.S. economy and of U.S. health and safety, of having enough food to eat,” he said.
