Wow. A North Carolina jury absolutely walloped the worlds largest pork producer last week over its disposal practices.

Ten neighbors filed suit against Kinlaw Farms, a large pork production facility located in North Carolina. Kinlaw is owned by Murphy-Brown LLC [a subsidiary of Chinese-owned Smithfield Foods].

The focus of the plaintiffs’ case was the truly nauseating way that Murphy-Brown disposed of the waste from THOUSANDS of hogs. Murphy’s practice, since the late 1990’s, involved flushing the waste from the hogs into open air holding pits. The resulting slop would then be sprayed onto nearby fields with spray guns. The plaintiffs claimed the airborne waste drifted and would coat their clothing and homes with a sickening smell that never went away. The plaintiffs further claimed that the airborne waste effectively deprived them of their right to use use and enjoy their homes.

The jury agreed, and found hat Murphy-Brown had “substantially and unreasonably” interfered with the plaintiffs’ use of their property. The jury awarded each of the 10 property owners $75,000 in compensatory damages. But the jury was just getting warmed up.DOZESN

Then the jury lowered the boom. To the tune of $50 million in punitive damages. And this decision is only the FIRST in dozens of lawsuits filed against Murphy. News reports noted that residents have complained for years about the disgusting smells and ever-present flies. But the pork industry’s political clout was able to repeatedly neutralize any serious reforms efforts.

Murphy-Brown is claiming that the lawsuit represents a threat to the North Carolina economy and vowed to appeal the verdict.