By Wally Kennedy

wkennedy@joplinglobe.com

LAMAR, Mo. — More than 30 people with homes in rural Barton County are seeking punitive damages in connection with a nuisance lawsuit against hog growers associated with two companies, Synergy LLC and Kenoma LLC, and the companies themselves.

The property owners, represented by Charles Speer, a Kansas City lawyer who specializes in environmental law, are alleging that odors stemming from the concentrated animal feeding operations have deprived them of their ability to enjoy their homes and have caused “substantial damage” to their quality of life.

The plaintiffs, who allege that the CAFOs have been grossly mismanaged, are seeking actual damages and unspecified punitive damages in the lawsuit, which was filed Nov. 18 in Barton County Circuit Court. The punitive damages, in part, are being sought to deter others from similar conduct. The plaintiffs are seeking a trial by jury.

Zach Mcguire, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said local residents tried unsuccessfully to regulate the hog CAFOs in Richland Township by putting a new zoning rule before voters in the township. The township vote in April 2007 was 81 percent in favor of the new rule, but a judge threw out the vote because of a legal challenge by the hog companies.

“What they are saying is that we don’t care what your rights are because it’s all about money and greed for us,” said Mcguire. “We are going to do it no matter what you guys say.

“Unfortunately, filing a lawsuit is our only means to fight this because the state took away our ability to zone these hog CAFOs. This is our only recourse for action to get back our clean air.”

Mcguire said living near a hog CAFO is “like living your life in a port-a-potty that has been sitting out in 100-degree weather — full.”

Dan Cross, a spokesman for Synergy in Sully, Iowa, said the company’s attorney is Eldon McAfee, based in Des Moines, Iowa.

McAfee, in a telephone interview Monday, said he has represented Synergy for a number of years and has found the company “to be conscientious about environmental compliance and respecting the rights of neighbors. We regret this lawsuit has been filed, and we will do everything we can to reach a resolution that respects the rights of neighbors and the rights of family farmers who formed this company.”

The plaintiffs allege that the hog farms, their waste-holding lagoons and waste-storage pits, and the spreading of hog waste as fertilizer on farmland near their homes have created unbearable odors and toxic gases, including hydrogen sulfide, methane and ammonia.

The plaintiffs allege that they have experienced nausea, gagging, vomiting, headaches, burning skin, eyes and throats, and anxiety because of the odors. Because of the odors, the plaintiffs say, they can no longer put on traditional holiday gatherings. They say some friends and family members have refused to visit them because of the odors.

The odors, they say, have curtailed their ability to cook and eat outdoors, to tend to outdoor gardens, to hunt and fish on their properties, and to hang their clothes outside to dry.

The plaintiffs allege that they have had to keep their homes closed up most of the time, relying on air conditioning to filter the air they breathe in their homes. Because of that, they allege, they have experienced increased costs related to energy consumption.

The suit says Synergy registered to conduct business in Missouri in 2006 and moved its first hogs into the county in November 2007.

The defendants include Synergy, which owns the hogs, and Kenoma, which owns the land and hog-confinement structures. The individuals identified as defendants in connection with Kenoma, either as individuals or through an ownership interest, are Paul Stefan and Wayne Nichols, Francis Forst, T.J. Onstott, William Stefan, Robert Rice, Ed Onstott, Marcel Fischbacher, John Bauer, Janis Bauer and Clint Ash.

The plaintiffs, in addition to Zach Mcguire, are Donna Anderson, Darvin Bentlage, Patricia Bentlage, Kathryn Boehne, David Disney, Bruce Gardner, Joseph Gardner, Douglas Haile, Elaine Haile, Gregory Harris, Kenneth Henderson, Wendy Henderson, Walter Howrey, Cindy Howrey, Carol Huber, Dale Huber, Kevin Huber, William Manke, Helen Manke, Debbie Jo Mcguire, Wayne Nims, Cheryl Nims, Ben Reed, Chris Shrum, Lisa Shrum, Charles Sprenkle, Merle Sprenkle, Dean Stratton, Donna Stratton, Max Stratton, Maxine Stratton and Albert Yonkers.





Appeal pending



The lawsuit is the second legal action to be filed in connection with the operation of hog CAFOs in Barton County. Richland Township, near Golden City, is appealing a circuit judge’s decision to throw out a vote on April 1, 2007, in which residents approved a zoning rule designed to regulate the land-use areas where CAFOs might operate.

The appeal was filed in January with the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, at Springfield. No hearing date has been set, according to Gregory Harris, chairman of the Richland Township Planning and Zoning Board.