Written
by M. Sean High
On
October 29, 2015, in the Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne County Pennsylvania, a
ruling was rendered regarding Country View Family Farms, LLC’s preliminary objections
in a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) case involving a Salem
Township pig farm.
The
legal action in question originated from an April 27, 2015 complaint filed by multiple
Salem Township residents seeking relief from the operation of a neighboring CAFO. In their complaint, 90 individual plaintiffs
collectively stated that “foul-smelling odors particulate matter, harmful
chemical compounds, pathogens, other hazardous substances, and in some cases
flies, generated at Defendants’ CAFO and the spreading of swine manure and
urine, have intermittently and frequently escaped and continue to escape form
Defendants’ CAFO and the spreading
fields and invade Plaintiffs’ properties, and thus have and continue to
substantially impaired Plaintiffs’ use and quiet enjoyment of their properties,
and caused substantial annoyance, inconvenience and discomfort and property
devaluation.”
Defendant
Country View Family Farms, LLC countered Plaintiffs’ allegations by filing seven
preliminary objections to the complaint.
According to Defendant’s brief in support of the preliminary objections:
1) Plaintiffs’ nuisance claim (both public and private) was legally and
factually insufficient; 2) allegations concerning harm to nearby schools, a
hospital, a retirement village and Thompson’s Run Creek should be stricken; 3) allegations
concerning potential violation of a Salem Township zoning ordinance should be
stricken; 4) Plaintiffs’ trespass claim was legally and factually insufficient;
5) Plaintiffs’ potential claim for negligence was improperly pleaded and
legally insufficient; 6) demand for punitive damages should be stricken; and 7)
the demand for diminution in value damages should be stricken.
No comments:
Post a Comment