Owens v. ContiGroup Companies, Inc.
Missouri Court of Appeals
344 S.W.3d 717 (2011)
Fifteen neighboring farmers (plaintiffs) sued ContiGroup Companies (defendant), owner of a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) that produced 230,000 gallons of hog waste daily, for public nuisance; expert and lay testimony established the CAFO emitted various gases and chemicals that wind carried onto the plaintiffs' properties, often causing significant odor problems especially during rainfall, and the plaintiffs described substantial resulting distress. The jury awarded the plaintiffs $11,000,000, and ContiGroup appealed, challenging a Missouri regulatory modification adding the category "other emissions" under which the hog effluent was classified.
Whether hog effluent and associated odors from a concentrated animal feeding operation may be classified as regulable "other emissions" constituting a public nuisance under state land-use regulation.