“It's a drop of support for the location which is deeply offensive to Car Freshner. So we'll work with the developer to find another location to build the plant,” said Don Alexander, head of the Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency. "We're trying to create jobs, not toss them out of the community."

Car-Freshner manufactures pine-tree shaped car fresheners. Daniel Samann, who leads the family-operated company and is the grandson of founder Julius Samann, told officials he would begin pulling Car-Freshner out of the park off outer Coffeen Street on the same day the proposed meat plant is approved, reports the Watertown Daily Times. The manufacturer could not be located near such a plant, he said, as noxious odors could affect the testing of sophisticated fragrances. He said his company would probably be moved outside the city of Watertown if the processing plant is approved.

Alexander said the lead developer of the meat plant, Mike Lundy, owns the property and could still go forward with the project. However, Alexander said, he believes the farm community would not support the project in the industrial park because they "do not want to be seen as becoming a problem for other employers."

Without the support of the corporation, it would be more difficult for Lundy to get tax breaks for the plant. Prior to the withdrawal of support, he said that the odor issue should be looked at in detail to see if Car-Freshner’s concerns had merit.

“It would be a horrible shame to lose a company like that, but we should be given an opportunity to mitigate their concerns,” said Lundy, who owns the land where the meat plant was to be built. “We’re going to retain air environmental system consultants to do the research.”

Sources: Watertown Daily Times, WWNY News