Lawsuit Over Smelly Hogs Shows PA Law Makes It Near Impossible To Sue Over Nuisance Farms

For several years, a hog farm in Luzerne County has been under legal fire for emitting a stench that people say can make the surrounding area almost unlivable. A lawsuit is now awaiting consideration before the state Supreme Court.But the outlook isn’t good—and that’s largely because Pennsylvania law makes it near-impossible to sue farms for nuisances like smells.Will-O-Bett Farm’s hog feeding operation—which is causing the smell—began in 2013 in Salem Township. People living nearby sued in county court the following year, and the legal volleys have been ongoing since.Those disgruntled neighbors have repeatedly lost in lower courts, because the commonwealth’s Right to Farm Act effectively prohibits nuisance lawsuits if a farm is complying with the law and not causing any health issues. The law also keeps municipalities from passing their own regulations to override it.Every state has some form of Right to Farm law.Rusty Rumley an attorney with the National Agricultural Law Center, said Pennsylvania’s is somewhere in the middle in terms of strictness.