Court orders owner to clean up rotting meat at chicken plant

EXETER, Mo. -- A court has ordered the owner of a southwest Missouri chicken processing plant to clean up about 250,000 pounds of meat that has been rotting there for several weeks, and the state set a Saturday deadline for the work.

The temporary restraining order, filed Friday in Barry County Circuit Court, names the Eskimo Packing plant in Exeter; its parent company D and D Food Marketing Inc., of Springfield; and D and D president David W. Jacobs of Aurora, as defendants.

The petition, filed by Attorney General Jay Nixon's office, alleges the company has allowed chicken parts to decay at the plant since it closed on Sept. 29. The decay has "caused a rancid odor to emanate throughout the city," according to the petition.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources issued an order setting a deadline of 5 p.m. Saturday for the owner to complete the work.

"If he fails to meet the Saturday deadline, the state will take immediate action to properly remove the material in order to protect public health and safety and will seek reimbursement for the cost of the cleanup from Mr. Jacob," department Director Doyle Childers said in a press release.