The Supreme Court of Missouri has rejected an appeal by some landowners upset with a large-scale hog farm in Boone County.
The lawsuit alleged that the facility produced odors and promoted an insect population, which spread to the facility’s neighbors, constituting a nuisance. The defendants, Bohr Farms and Cargill, filed a motion for summary judgment, a way to end the lawsuit without a trial.
They asserted that current state law limits damages to the loss of property value, rental value, and costs to treat a medical condition if it’s related to the nuisance.
The circuit court granted Bohr and Cargill’s motion for summary judgment on all claims. The property owners appealed.
In a decision written by Judge Richard B. Teitelman and joined by three judges, the Supreme Court of Missouri affirmed the circuit court’s judgment. The judges held that the statute does not authorize an unconstitutional private “taking” because it advances the legitimate public purpose of promoting the agricultural economy to create a public advantage or benefit.
The ruling says the statute also recognizes the constitutionally-required just compensation for reduced rental value. The statute does not deny equal protection or due process and is not an unconstitutional special law, according to the ruling.
The attorney general argued, as a friend of the Court, that the state legislature has the authority to modify common law nuisance claims. The National Pork Producers Council and Missouri Farmers Care argued, as friends of the Court, that the property owners make multiple policy arguments in their brief, arguing that such policy arguments should be resolved in the General Assembly and not the courts. They said that changes in the nuisance law kept Missouri competitive with neighboring states.
Expect delays in St Joe this weekend as railroad crews shutdown a busy crossing on the Stockyards Expressway.
