Mountaire Farms, the poultry processing plant, proposed a settlement of $65 million without admitting to the culpability over allegation of groundwater or air contamination across Millsboro and Dagsboro town in Sussex County, Delaware.
According to the lawsuit filed, the concerns grew in November 2007, when the Delaware Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Control (DNREC) said that the plant spray-irrigated under-treated wastewater onto nearby agricultural fields. It became a class-action when several people with the same claims joined in.
The deal would resolve the class-action suit brought by the citizens who were impacted by the contamination and who lived or worked full-time in those towns since mid-2000, the time when the company acquired the Millsboro poultry processing plant.
The settlement deal has left the citizens with four options, which include:
-
Participate: Anyone who lived or worked in the eligible areas near Millsboro and Dagsboro (according to the map) and wishes to be considered for payment must complete a registration form by Monday, March 22, 2021. Those who fail to register by this date will not be eligible for settlement compensation.
-
Object: Anyone who wants to participate in the class-action settlement, but who objects to any part of the proposal, must submit the necessary forms by Monday, Feb. 22, 2021.
-
Opt-out: Any class member who wishes to be excluded from the class must submit the necessary forms by Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. They will not be bound by any court judgments or orders, but neither will they receive settlement money.
-
No action: Anyone who does not take action or register by March 22, 2021, will still be bound by the terms of the lawsuit but won’t get to benefit from the settlement. Also, they will not be eligible to participate in any other lawsuit against Mountaire on groundwater contamination or air pollution.
Out of the $65 million settlement, the attorneys who sued Mountaire will request a 25 percent ($16.25 million) payment along with the expenses of $2.5 million for hundreds of interviews conducted and dozens of experts hired in wastewater engineering, air emissions, hydrogeology, medicine, and more.
