IATP Hog Report - Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

Section 5
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an investigation of the ramifications and consequences of
withdrawing from the pending litigation brought by the previous
Tribal Council and Sun Prairie against the BIA,
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an exploration of the Tribe's options for withdrawing from the
litigation, and
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a non-binding referendum of the people regarding acceptance of
the pork production plant.
Meanwhile, nearly a year had gone by without the speedy decision Judge
Kornmann had promised the interveners and BIA back in February 1999
when he handed down the preliminary injunction prohibiting them from
taking further actions to prevent the hog facility from being built. 82 In
January 2000, a date for oral argument on the interveners' appeal finally
was set for February 17, 2000. On February 3, 2000, only two weeks
before the oral argument was scheduled and almost a year after he issued
the preliminary injunction, Judge Kornmann made the February 1999
preliminary injunction final. His act rendered the groups' appeal moot and
permanently barred both the groups and the BIA from interfering with
either phase of construction and operation of the hog factory project.
In a Rosebud Sioux Tribal (RST) Council session of February 9, 2000, the
following motion was made and carried: 83
that the Chairman and the RST Council request to meet
with the interveners and Washington officials, in order to
make [an] intelligent decision; and that the Council's
concerns are now consistent with the intervener's concerns.
In May, a non-binding referendum of the people was held and the hog
factory development was rejected by the voting tribal members. The
situation for Rosebud citizens is complicated because, in order to show
Bell, Sun Prairie, and Hormel that the Tribe would be a responsible
business partner, the previous Tribal Council gave up the Tribe's sovereign
immunity from legal liability. 84 This allows the other partners to sue the
Tribe in State or Federal Court if they have a complaint over how the
Tribe is conducting its part of the agreement.
The Tribe is deeply concerned that withdrawing from the project now
could result in a lawsuit by Bell Farms and Sun Prairie that could require
the Tribe to pay Bell Farms and Sun Prairie a sizeable settlement to close
down the operation. 85 At the same time, the new Council chairperson has
voiced concern that the "costs could be higher for cleaning the site up after
Bell Farms is finished." 86
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