IATP Hog Report - Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

Section 5
· Operating a facility holding substantially more nursery pigs than DNR
authorized the facility to hold.
Nixon also stated in his lawsuit that PSF has operated its facilities in such
a manner as to constitute a public nuisance, emitting offensive odors at
"frequencies, intensities and for durations that are unreasonable:" 118
For the families that live in any kind of close proximity to a
PSF hog operation, there has been a profound negative
impact on the quality of their lives because of the
uncontrolled stench that comes from tens of thousands of
pigs whose manure and urine are unreasonably handled.
Nixon was in the process of negotiating a settlement with PSF when, on
July 23, 1999, the U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, filed legal motions in federal court to
intervene in CLEAN's lawsuit. 119 The EPA's new investigation, begun at
CLEAN's request, "revealed significant violations of the Clean Water
Act." The Justice Department seeks fines of $25,000 per day for each
violation before January 31, 1997, and $27,500 per day for each violation
after that.
On July 30, Attorney General Nixon filed a consent decree with the courts.
The consent decree was hailed by PSF as eminently fair. 120 It would fine
the company $1,000,000, with $650,000 paid up front by PSF and
Continental Grain. The companies would not be required to pay the
remaining $350,000 if they spent $25,000,000 (or less, if a team of experts
agreed it could be done for that) to clean up the PSF operations in
Northern Missouri within the next five years. CLEAN members feared
that the consent decree could amount to a $650,000 fine and continuation
of the status quo. Meanwhile, more pollution incidents occurred. 121
Premium Standard and Continental Grain filed a motion for summary
judgment on the CLEAN suit. However, on February 23, 2000, Judge
Sachs denied the majority of their motion. CLEAN lost violations that had
been part of the Attorney General's consent decree, but "the vast universe
of past and continuing violations against both companies is intact and
headed to trial." 122
The Ozark Sierra Club acknowledges that PSF created jobs, but asks "at
what cost?" 123
Putnam County's average unemployment rate for 1998 was 4.8%, up from
1992's rate of 3.5%. 124 Between 1990 and 1996, Putnam County had the
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