Claremont residents object to plan to load tallow in town

Heated town meeting over trucking plan, trustee resigns

A plan to truck liquid beef tallow to Claremont to be shipped out by rail is unpopular with residents because some streets in town are closed to trucks. (Scott Waltman/Aberdeen Insider).

CLAREMONT — A plan to haul liquid beef tallow to Claremont and ship it out on rail cars has met substantial opposition.

About 40 local residents attended a community meeting at the city hall on this month and made it clear they aren’t keen on the idea. Their primary concern is that the tanker trucks hauling the tallow from DemKota Ranch Beef in Aberdeen to the rail line in Claremont will damage streets in town.

Parts of two city streets leading to the tracks are posted as not allowing trucks. They are Third Street, which enters town from County Road 9 to the north, and  Sixth Avenue, which primarily runs along the tracks from southwest to southeast. Third Street is gravel.