00:04Got milk? This plant won't be processing it much longer. Farmland Dairies has decided to
00:10close its Wallington facility, which has been in operation for decades. That means more than 320
00:16layoffs. It just kind of came out of nowhere. I don't think anybody was really expecting this,
00:21so I mean it was just just kind of shocking. The news also shocked Wallington's borough
00:26administrator. I was very surprised. I had no indication whatsoever that something like this
00:31could ever happen, especially before Christmas. Two managers walked into the office the other day,
00:37literally handed me an envelope stating me that it would be closed by or the beginning of the closing
00:43would be February 17th in three phases, two weeks apart. A total of approximately 325 jobs would be
00:51lost. Also lost tax revenue. Farmland Dairies is one of the largest tax payers in the borough. It's
00:58also one of my largest users for water. Sewage fees in the neighborhood of 1.2 to 1.4 million
01:04dollars
01:04a year. Fred Stern, spokesperson for Borden Dairy Company, the owner of Farmland Dairies,
01:09says company officials have decided to close this plant to improve efficiency. Another factor,
01:15the industry is changing. Fewer people are drinking milk these days. When this plant closes,
01:20just three other milk processing facilities will remain in New Jersey, and there will be fewer
01:25farmland dairy products on the shelves at New Jersey stores. It's unclear if or how any of this will
01:30impact milk prices. They're state regulated. Our calls to the U.S. Department of Agriculture were not
01:35returned. Meanwhile, area businesses say they will also feel the impact because many of the farmland
01:40employees are longtime customers. It's going to affect us. It won't put us out of business, but I would say
01:47pretty much 10 percent of our business is generated from farmland employees. We do have most of the
01:54people coming into our job from there, so it will impact that too also. And also the businesses around
02:00because they do, you know, go there too. And I really do feel bad for them that they're losing their
02:04job
02:05right when this is happening Christmas time. A lot of people are down. A lot of people have been here
02:0920,
02:0925 years or so. I mean it's, for a lot of people it's devastating to say the least. Making matters
02:15worse,
02:16a milk distributing plant in town closed back in October, another sign this once thriving industry
02:21is drying up. In Wallington, I'm Desiree Taylor, NJTV News.
02:39I'm Desiree Taylor, NJTV News.
