The Hudson farm in Berlin (Photo: WBOC)BALTIMORE (AP/WBOC)- Perdue Farms says the implications are enormous in a Maryland poultry pollution case being heard by a federal judge in Baltimore.
The Salisbury-based poultry company says if it loses, all poultry farms on the Eastern Shore will be liable for Clean Water Act violations. And companies like Perdue will be considered operators of their contract growers' farms. But Perdue says in a post-trial filing that the plaintiffs haven't proven their case.
The Waterkeeper Alliance claims that Berlin-based Hudson Farm is polluting the nearby Pocomoke River. The alliance says in its filing that it has proven the farm is polluting the river in violation of the act and Perdue and the farm should be held liable. Responses are due next week with closing arguments tentatively scheduled for Nov. 30.
