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Waiting on jury decision in N.C. hog trial
Story Date: 4/26/2018
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Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 4/25/18
A federal jury in North Carolina has the unenviable task of determining if an industrial hog farm has posed an unreasonable nuisance to nearby neighbors. If it does find for the plaintiffs, the 10 jury members will also have to put a price on harm as it decides how much money to award. It's tough to put a number on nuisance.
Residents living near Kinlaw Farm in eastern North Carolina say the stench of manure, the annoyance of buzzards and flies, and noisy trucks transporting dead animals at all hours have harmed their quality of life. They have filed suit on nuisance grounds, demanding compensation for the alleged harm the farm has caused under the direction of Smithfield, the world's largest pork producer. The jury will have to balance the rights of the hog farm with the rights of its neighbors in making the decision, reports Pro Ag's Liz Crampton.
Case wrapped: The jury began deliberating Tuesday afternoon after hearing a month of testimony. The Kinlaw case is just part of several lawsuits filed by 500 residents against Murphy-Brown, a subsidiary of Smithfield.
This jury's verdict could give momentum for the remaining cases, or could derail them. It could also have lasting implications for a major industry for North Carolina, a state that is second only to Iowa in terms of pork production.
Counsel for plaintiffs never gave an exact number of how much money they believe the residents are entitled to because they can no longer use or enjoy their property in the same way they did before the hog farm broke ground in 1995.
But an attorney provided some suggestions by stating it would cost Smithfield $500 million to cover its 2,500 lagoons across the state where animal waste is stored.
The guidelines for the jury to follow are that the damages amount should be high enough to punish Smithfield for failing to properly dispose of pig poop and deter the company from continuing the lagoon-and-spray system in the future.
The attorney also made a point of showing how much money Smithfield makes off its hog operations by using cheap waste disposal methods: the company's top four executives made $245 million combined over a period of four years. In just one year Smithfield rakes in $2 billion in profits, the attorney said to the jury.
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