To the Editor:

In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

– Martin Luther King Jr.

The plan that Prestage Foods has to locate a slaughterhouse five miles south of Eagle Grove is another bad idea. Mason City citizens worked diligently to deny this company access to their clean air and water, and we in Wright County have the opportunity to do the same.

Wars have been fought for salt and other resources, and in the future we will likely see wars over water. This slaughterhouse is predicted to drain millions of gallons of water every day from the Jordan Aquifer, which would need decades to recharge in many places, including parts of Iowa. Even without Prestage here, water is being drawn from the aquifer faster than it can be replaced.

Prestage does not promote economic growth. Jobs at this slaughterhouse would not pay a livable wage and would only further burden our social-service system. If you add in the cost of taxpayer subsidies for the company, it is clear that this is a losing proposition for Wright County.

This is no time for silence.

Mary-Louise Burt

Rowan