Missouri families claim hog farms have caused "substantial damage"

A lawsuit brought through a dozen northwest Missouri families is scheduled to advance to trial this week.

The families claim that grunter confinements owned and operated by means of ContiGroup Cos., Premium Standard Farms and PSF assemblage Holdings in Grundy, Gentry, Daviess and Worth counties have caused "substantial damage" to their quality of life.

Attorneys for the sum of two units sides worked on selecting jurors Tuesday. The trial is awaited to last four to five weeks, according to jury supervisor Tracy Smedley

The plaintiffs allege that noxious odors, contaminated runoff and large numbers of insects emanating from the factories have interfered with their lives. Court records state that the confinements each house at least 20000 pigs and their litters.

The factories bring out a large amount of waste that includes pig manure, urine and afterbirth remnants - all of which is held in dirt- lined reservoirs that are, for the greatest in quantity part, uncovered.

They also claim the defendants do not fitly dispose of dead pigs.

"The defendants' [i]modus operandi[/i] of disposal of dead grunters has included stacking 'the deads' upon top of one another in trash dumpster without being sealed and many times over the top of the dumpster lid for stretch outed periods of time," their suit claims.

And the suit alleges dozens of instances of leaks of wastewater onto the characteristic of several plaintiffs from January 1995 to March 2002 single discharge, according to the plaintiffs, killed more than 100000 fish in the Grand River in September 1995

Each plaintiff is the child, parent, spouse or co-habitant of the plaintiffs who brought nuisance claims against ContiGroup in August 1996 That suit, Hanes, et al. v Continental Grain, made many of the same allegations as the generally received case.

A Circuit Court of St Louis shire jury in April 1999 rest in favor of the 52 plaintiffs for $100000 each. The verdict was appealed to the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District, and the decision was upheld.

ContiGroup began operating confinements in northwest Missouri in 1998 according to the plaintiffs. In May 1998 the company acquired a majority ownership interest in PSF and PSF Holdings, leaving it in ascendency of 7,475 acres.

Copyright 2006 Dolan Media Newswires

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