The Eastern Shore chicken industry is reeling from a proposal in Annapolis that would impose a 5 cent tax per chicken to get big poultry companies to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay.
Worcester County Commissioner Virgil Shockley said that with more than 12 million chickens in Worcester County the cost would add up quickly.
That big money, environmental groups and some legislators say is needed to clean up the bay.
Food And Water Watch claims that poultry puts more than a billion pounds of waste into the watershed each year.
Shockley disputes that claim.
Meanwhile, Delmarva Poultry Industry Incorporated has come out against the tax and Perdue issued a statement saying it was confident that leaders in Annapolis would recognize this tax as unfair.
The poultry giant added that it believes it has done its fair share in contributing efforts to clean up the bay.
