The N.C. Senate voted to approve Senate Bill 711, "Clarify and Amend North Carolina Right to Farm Law," today. This measure would severely limit the ability of landowners to seek redress in court when they feel they have suffered a loss of use or value of their property due to neighboring farming or forestry activities. This would include neighbors of industrial hog operations who report suffering from foul odors and noxious animal waste spray.
Notably, this is the second effort within two years by the legislature to restrict nuisance suits. In May 2017, the General Assembly overrode a veto of House Bill 467 "Agricultural and Forestry Nuisance Remedies," which restricted the amount of compensation neighbors of farming and forestry operations could seek for nuisance claims.
S 711 seems primarily intended to limit the ability of North Carolinians to seek compensation in court for harm caused by neighboring factory hog farms. Numerous such cases are currently making their way through the courts.
Many of North Carolina's large-scale hog operations store millions of gallons of hog waste in open-air lagoons. As permitted by state regulations, the waste is periodically sprayed onto fields, but can drift onto neighboring properties. Many North Carolina families, some of whom lived on their land before a factory hog farm was built nearby, report suffering from foul odors, flies and animal waste spray drifting onto their properties despite environmental regulations. S 711, if it becomes law, would narrow the ability of landowners in these situations to bring nuisance cases.
The bill will go to the House next.
Molly Diggins, State Director of the NC Sierra Club, issued this statement:
"Lawmakers should seek to help citizens who are suffering harms caused by neighboring property owners, rather than focusing exclusively on helping corporate agricultural interests. It's unfair to remove legal options for neighbors of farming and forestry operations solely to benefit favored industries."
"The Sierra Club calls on House leaders to stand up for landowners’ rights, rather than disregarding the legitimate complaints of North Carolinians just because of where they happen to live."