Plaintiffs Drop Out Of Lawsuit

RESIDENTS ATTRIBUTED CANCER PROBLEMS TO SPREADING OF CHICKEN LITTER

By Ron Wood

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

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FAYETTEVILLE — Several plaintiffs have opted to drop out of a lawsuit alleging the spreading of chicken litter in the Prairie Grove area caused cancer.

Jason Hatfield, an attorney for the group, said Tuesday they’re tired of the legal process, particularly answering stacks of personal questions.

“They’ve just decided they’re tired of releasing their personal information,” Hatfield said. “They have repeatedly released their personal information and they’ve decided to drop out. This is just a handful.”

Nine plaintiffs were listed on motions to dismiss filed Monday. Most were parents representing their children or the estates of relatives.

There are some 120 plaintiffs in more than a half-dozen separate lawsuits.

The suits claim high levels of arsenic from the spreading of chicken litter blew into homes and schools in Prairie Grove where people came in contact with it. They say arsenic causes cancer and other health problems.

The plaintiff’s allegations have been that Roxarsone, a chemical used in broiler feed to control parasites, passes through the birds and then degrades into a harmful form of arsenic in the litter, which is spread on farm fields as fertilizer.

Expert witnesses have said the Roxarsone could only have come from chicken litter and the levels of arsenic in area homes had much higher levels of arsenic, copper and zinc than the surrounding soils. Other possible sources in the area were eliminated through testing, they say.

The poultry companies, Tyson Foods, George’s, Peterson and Simmons, argue there’s no environmental link. They also contend there was never enough arsenic in the litter — less than an ounce per acre under normal spreading conditions — to be harmful.

One case has made it to trial since the suits were filed in 2004. It has been tried two times.

After a three-week trial in September 2006, a Washington County Circuit Court jury took 21 minutes to find for Alpharma, the maker of Roxarsone, and against Michael “Blu” Green and his parents. Green claimed exposure to arsenic in the 1990s caused him to develop leukemia.

The poultry companies were dismissed before that trial but the Arkansas Supreme Court sent the case back for another trial involving only the poultry companies. It took just over an hour earlier this year for a jury to find in favor of the poultry companies.

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