SCOTX: Trial Court Must Revisit Order Shutting Down Stinky Poultry Operations

Neighbors of two overcrowded East Texas poultry farms deserved relief from sudden stenches emanating from the chicken barns, the Texas Supreme Court said, but a trial judge went too far in permanently closing the operations.

Frank Blanchard and other neighbors of the farms are entitled to permanent injunctive relief, said the court in remanding the Henderson County case for consideration of other remedies to abate the odor, such as reducing the flock size and more frequent barn cleanings. The trial court also should consider on remand the extent to which it is possible to disaggregate the conduct of individual defendants, including the individual growers and Sanderson Farms, which delivered chicks to the farms and hauled them away when they grew large enough for processing.