Renville begins bird flu cleanup

May 23--RENVILLE -- Residents in the community of Renville are beginning to see first-hand the toll that the avian influenza epidemic is taking.

United States Department of Agriculture workers -- many in full body suits -- on Wednesday began depopulating the Rembrandt Enterprises barns holding 2 million egg-laying hens on the east side of Renville. Testing had confirmed that the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N2 struck the egg-laying facility, the largest poultry operation in Minnesota to be affected by the disease to date.

Rembrandt officials told Renville City Council members during an emergency meeting Tuesday that they first began to see signs that birds were becoming ill on May 12. Within days, thousands of birds were dying and the infection had spread beyond the barn holding the birds first identified as ill.

City Council members held the special meeting to provide an emergency order allowing the company to compost the birds on a site north of the barns.

Renville County closed off a portion of County Road 21 alongside the east side of the 16-barn complex for biosecurity reasons.

Rembrandt Enterprises announced Thursday that it will be laying off 39 of its employees in Renville on or about June 1. The layoff is planned to be temporary.

The company told city officials that it intends to repopulate the barns and resume production as soon as possible, although that date could be months away. It is also reducing the economic impact by reassigning some workers to keep them on the payroll as the cleanup work gets underway.

Renville Mayor Janette Wertish said the economic impact will be felt in the community, especially once the employee layoffs begin. "I'm sure this is going to be a significant loss to us,'' she said.

Many of the employees live in the community, and even those who live out of town are regular customers for businesses in the community. "Lots of them come into lunch every day, buy gas and food, support the local businesses,'' Wertish said.

She is concerned about the hardships that workers affected by the shutdown will face. She's already heard of one family that is expecting a new baby and concerned about the loss of health insurance if the shutdown persists for a long time.

There are other economic impacts certain to ripple through the community and the area's economy. United Mills in Renville supplies feed for the facility, and area farmers raise much of the corn for it. And, a variety of companies and trades people in the community and area provide services to the complex, she said.

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Composting only option for disposal poultry affected by bird flu

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