|
A Licking County jury awarded $19.2 million in damages to 21 neighbors for environmental damage
by Mike Lafferty
"It's the message these people have been trying to get through,'' said attorney Dave Bertsch, who represents one of two groups of neighbors suing the giant operation near Johnstown in northwest Licking County.
Neighbors hugged each other and their attorneys in disbelief as they realized the size of the $19.2 million award.
"We've been fighting this guy for more than 10 years,'' said Cynthia Sollars, who lives with her husband, Michael, near the farms.
Pohlmann was not in court for the verdict.
Buckeye Egg attorney Tom Rosenberg said the judgment does not recognize the $50 million effort the company has embarked upon to meet its environmental obligations.
"This puts all this in jeopardy,'' said Rosenberg, who added that Pohlmann thought he had "turned the corner with the community.''
Rosenberg said Pohlmann will consider bankruptcy for the 600-employee company as early as today.
Neighbors filed suit after they said Pohlmann ignored their complaints and protests about noxious odors, water pollution, billions of flies and other problems resulting from 7.5 million birds kept in large chicken houses scattered through the countryside between Johnstown and Hartford.
"We had a talk with Anton Pohlmann in 1998, and he said he didn't see a problem with flies,'' Sollars said.
The plaintiffs sued Buckeye Egg in 1999 after an ammonia spill and a manure spill. The case went to trial Aug. 20.
Jurors heard three weeks of testimony and began deliberating Friday after closing arguments. In an unusual move, jurors deliberated through the weekend.
Common Pleas Judge Gregory Frost praised jurors for their attention and ability to weigh the evidence despite nearly constant bad publicity Buckeye Egg has received through the years.
The company's attorneys argued in the trial that the problems that prompted the lawsuits were fixed as soon as they were discovered, that Pohlmann and Buckeye Egg did not intend to harm the plaintiffs, and that the plaintiffs did not suffer substantial financial loss.
"Dan Perkins and I have had it for 20 years,'' said plaintiff Marilyn Seelke. Perkins is also a plaintiff. "The first barn was in 1981 and it wasn't bad in the beginning, but he just kept adding barns,'' she said.
Seelke said neighbors finally decided that a lawsuit was the only way to get Pohlmann's attention.
John Sproat, another attorney for the neighbors, said he predicts Buckeye Egg will appeal the decision. There might be a settlement during the appeals process, he said.
Hirst Lampton said he doubted he would ever see any damage award.
"(Pohlmann) was threatening bankruptcy in the trial,'' Lampton said.
"They've saturated the place with chicken poop,'' said Lampton, who moved to the area with his wife, Patricia, in 1988. "But, for us, the worst things were the fish kills.''
Tens of thousands of fish have been killed in Raccoon Creek and other waterways. The fish kills sounded the alarm on those spills, but environmentalists say other water-pollution damage has occurred undetected.
The lawsuit is one of several against Buckeye Egg. The state has filed seven sets of contempt charges against the company for violations such as spilling contaminated water into a creek and failing to stop large outbreaks of flies.
Buckeye Egg settled a lawsuit with the state that accused the company of dumping dead chickens in a field, polluting creeks and causing infestations of flies, beetles and other insects at its facilities in Wyandot, Hardin and Licking counties.
Buckeye Egg's environmental and legal problems have drawn support from some farmers. However, attorney Sproat said the suit was not aimed at farmers.
"This is a great victory for the public,'' he said. "It is not aimed at forcing farmers out of business. Many of these plaintiffs come from farm backgrounds themselves.''
mail to: mlafferty@dispatch.com
|
