GEORGETOWN, Del. - A Perdue employee has expressed concerns over how communication was handled during a chemical incident at the company’s Georgetown processing plant on Wednesday.
The worker, who asked to remain anonymous, shared her experience, including symptoms she and her coworkers experienced and her frustration with the company's response.
"The smell didn’t reach me directly, but I felt a tingling in my eyes, nose, and throat. My coworker felt the same way," the employee said in an exclusive interview with CoastTV News. She noted that the symptoms began between 4 p.m. and 4:25 p.m. and lasted about 20 minutes. "During that time, my eyes burned," she said.
Despite these symptoms, the employee said work on her line continued as usual. "I knew something was happening, but we weren’t informed at all. Absolutely nothing. We continued working on the line. The department was operating normally," she said.
The employee described encountering a strong smell when passing through another area of the plant. At 5:30 p.m., workers were told they could not leave or enter the building, which she said added to the confusion.
"They were only saying in English that we couldn’t leave. No explanations were given. People didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to do either, whether to stay in the cafeteria or in the meeting room, and no one knew what was happening," she said.
The worker added that she eventually knew more information through a text message sent out to everyone in the area., but frustration remained over the lack of clear and timely updates during the situation.
In a statement provided by Perdue Farms, the company said: "The safety of our associates and the community was our top priority. We were given specific instructions by the fire department for all of our associates to shelter in place. It was explained that there was a shelter in place order issued and no one would be allowed to walk down the sidewalk, and the road was blocked to through traffic. We do have translators in different areas of the plant. It was extremely orderly, peaceful and all associates will be paid for their time at the facility while sheltering in place after their shift ended."
Despite this, the employee felt the situation could have been handled better, especially for non-English speaking employees. "What they did wrong was that people didn’t know what to do, and there were many people who didn’t speak English. They were just threatening people with losing their jobs without giving explanations. That upset me," she said.
She also noted that work resumed as usual Thursday, with no additional communication from the company about the incident. "No one has said anything. They have never communicated with the employees. We only received the alert they sent to our phones," she said.
The incident is still under investigation by DNREC.