Smithfield's Annoying Pig Farm Hurts Bottom Line

(RTTNews) - A North Carolina jury on Thursday awarded over $50 million in damages to neighbors of pork producer Murphy-Brown LLC for nuisance caused by intense smell, noise and other disturbances.

Jurors awarded the 10 neighbors of a 15,000-head swine operation a total of $750,000 in compensation, plus $50 million in damages.

The case was the first in a series of twenty-six federal lawsuits filed by neighbors of hog farms against Murphy-Brown LLC, a subsidiary of food giant Smithfield Foods.

Smithfield Foods said it would appeal the decision.

The plaintiffs had sued Murphy-Brown for the company's waste-management practices. According to the neighbors, they stored excess hog waste in open-air cesspools and sprayed the remains onto nearby field. The odors and mist from the spray drift onto their property and produced a pungent stink.

The plaintiffs also argued that a big company like Smithfield has enough money to use a better alternative waste-management technology on its farms that would reduce the stench.