Judge Rules for Maryland Farmer in Clean Water Act Lawsuit

MARYLAND A federal judge in Maryland on Thursday ruled against Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc. in a case that was brought under the Clean Water Act based on allegations that chicken litter was discharged into a river tributary without a permit.

The ruling marked a victory for the defendants, "poultry integrator" Perdue Farms and Maryland farmer Alan Hudson, who grows crops and raises beef cattle and chickens.

In October, U.S. District Court Judge William M. Nickerson presided over a 10-day bench trial as the non-profit Waterkeeper Alliance sought to prove its allegations that chicken litter containing various pollutants was discharged without a permit from Hudson Farm into a tributary of the Pocomoke River.

In his "Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law," Nickerson found that Waterkeeper Alliance "failed to meet its burden of establishing that there was a discharge of pollution from the poultry operation on the Hudson Farm."

Waterkeeper Alliance said it was disappointed with the decision and would consider an appeal.

"Regardless of this decision, the reality is that the Chesapeake Bay and waterways around the country are dying off from pollution and runoff from large industrial factory farms," said Marc Yaggi, executive director of the Waterkeeper Alliance, in a statement. "This case highlighted serious flaws in the States implementation of the Clean Water Act."

The lawsuit implicated the 40-year-old Clean Water Act, which Congress passed in order to maintain and restore the biological, chemical and physical integrity of the country's waters. In his ruling, Nickerson observed that the statute has proven to be extremely effective in cleaning waterways although he acknowledged Chesapeake Bay was dirty.

"The Pocomoke River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, in whose watershed the Hudson Farm is located, is impaired by nitrogen, phosphorus, and bacteria," Nickerson wrote, "all pollutants that are associated with animal manure."