Second Smithfield Trial Underway in North Carolina

A second lawsuit against Smithfield Foods began this week in a federal court located in Raleigh, North Carolina. It’s the second trial involving claims from local residents that a hog farm contracted with Smithfield uses an inadequate waste disposal system. The residents claim that the inadequate system undermines their quality of life. Lawyers will argue over whether Smithfield should be held liable for damages from storing waste from 4,700 hogs in open-air lagoons and spraying it onto farm fields as fertilizer. The trial stems from dozens of cases filed against Smithfield, the world’s biggest pork producer, on the grounds that hog farms using the lagoon-and-spray model make life miserable for nearby residents. Noxious fumes, carcass-laden trucks, and swarms of flies associated with industrial-scale hog production are all things that residents are giving as reasons behind the suit. Hog farming is big business and a pillar of the state’s economy. The first trial was held in April, when a jury awarded the plaintiffs $50 million dollars, although the judge reduced it to $2.5 million in punitive damages. Kenneth Smith, Smithfield President, says, “If the lawsuits succeed, the company will have to revisit whether we can continue doing business in North Carolina.”