FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 29, 2017
Contact: Dan Crawford; dan@nclcv.org; 919.539.1422

Lawmakers push “Chinese Buy-Out Bill” at expense of public health
HB 467 seeks to silence North Carolina property owners, communities hurt by hog waste

RALEIGH – Filed on March 23, House Bill 467, “Agriculture and Forestry Nuisance Remedies,” will be heard in the North Carolina House Judiciary III Committee today, March 29, at 12:30 p.m in room 421. This bill targets the elimination of nuisance lawsuits in North Carolina, which coincidentally coincides with ongoing litigation against Murphy-Brown LLC, the hog-growing subsidiary of Chinese-owned Smithfield Foods.

If passed, this bill would prevent plaintiffs from recovering damages not related to loss of property value. Unfortunately, the negative impacts from hog waste extend far beyond property values, including, but not limited to, harms to human health, lost income, and long-term pain and suffering.

Dan Crawford, director of governmental relations for the NC League of Conservation Voters, issued the following statement in response to HB 467:

“Unfortunately, residents of eastern North Carolina know this smell well: this time it’s the stink of foreign corporate profit at the expense of our natural resources and communities. House Bill 467 is nothing more than lawmakers putting a foreign-owned company ahead of the long-term health and safety of the very communities who have been forced to endure the harms of hog waste for decades. Residents have a right to defend and protect their families through democratic legal channels. It’s despicable that the bill sponsors attempt to equate the long-term suffering of their constituents to a ‘nuisance’ that can be silenced by a foreign entity.”

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Press Release corrected on 3/31/2017.