About The Hudson Lawsuit

Erin Fitzsimons, the Chesapeake Regional Director for the Waterkeeper Alliance (Waterkeepers), is appointed Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler’s Special Assistant for the Environment.

Waterkeepers and the UM Environmental Law Clinic file a lawsuit against the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) challenging MDA’s denial on privacy grounds of the Waterkeepers’ Public Information Act request seeking access to farmer NMPs. The MDA denial is based on its interpretation of state law limiting access to NMPs.

Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) announces its final determination to issue its Animal Feeding Operations (AFO) General Permit.

Waterkeepers commence challenge of MDE’s AFO General Permit before Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings.

Hudson Farm begins accepting “Class A” sewage sludge or “biosolids” from Ocean City for use as fertilizer.

MDE Final Decision Maker issues final decision rejecting Waterkeepers’ challenge to AFO General Permit.

Assateague Coastkeeper and Kathy Phillips post aerial photographs on website of what they claim to be a chicken litter pile at Hudson Farm but is later determined to be Class A biosolids.

MDE inspects Hudson Farm and concludes that the pile is not poultry manure, as alleged in the Waterkeepers’ Notice of Intent to sue, but rather treated biosolids obtained from Ocean City. An MDE inspection on January 7, 2010, confirms the pile has been moved away from farm ditches and covered with plastic.

Waterkeepers, Assateague Coastkeeper and Kathy Phillips file a federal lawsuit against Alan and Kristin Hudson Farm and Perdue Farms, Inc. alleging discharges in violation of the Clean Water Act.

UM Environmental Law Clinic files Public Information Act request with MDA seeking all documentation on nutrient management plans on farmers participating in manure transport program and all inspection results.

A federal court dismisses the Assateague Coastkeeper and Kathy Phillips as plaintiffs in the Hudson lawsuit. This ruling leaves Waterkeeper Alliance as the only plaintiff.

Waterkeepers file an appeal to the Court of Special Appeals from the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County’s decision in the Public Information Act dispute with MDA.

Food & Water Watch (FWW), through former Waterkeepers, launch Food & Water Justice. FWW becomes PR arm for Waterkeeper Alliance and law clinic.

Waterkeepers host “Eastern Shore Poultry Summit” in Salisbury, MD. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Waterkeepers founder and President of the Waterkeepers’ Board of Directors, and AG Gansler are keynote speakers. AG Gansler says “we need to ramp up enforcement” of poultry by government and citizen groups through the Clean Water Act (CWA), and also states that it is “absurd” that farmer Nutrient Management Plans (NMPs) are not public documents, despite a Maryland statute that protects NMP confidentiality. The Director of the University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic explains how citizens can go after the poultry industry using the CWA and that legal action is the best way to change industry behavior.

Members of the Waterkeepers are found trespassing on a poultry farm just outside Willards, MD.

Maryland’s regulations for AFOs become effective.

Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County rules that MDA must remove information identifying individual farmers before producing summaries of NMPs to Waterkeepers.

Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings issues proposed decision, rejecting Waterkeepers’ challenge to AFO General Permit.

Waterkeepers appeals MDE final decision on AFO General Permit to Circuit Court for Baltimore City. Because the Waterkeepers fail to move for a stay of the permit, MDE allows General Permit to become effective December 1, 2009.

Assateague Coastkeeper and Waterkeepers mail a Notice of Intent to sue Hudson Farm and Perdue Farms, Inc. for violations of the Clean Water Act and polluting the Pocomoke River.

MDE inspects Hudson Farm again and notes “no animal manure piles were observed outside.”

MDE announces conclusion of Investigation of Hudson Farm and issues a $4,000 administrative penalty for improper sludge storage. MDE notes corrective actions have already been taken. Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings later decides not to enforce the MDE penalty against the Hudsons.

Circuit Court for Baltimore City rejects Waterkeepers’ challenge to AFO General Permit. Waterkeepers then appeals to Maryland Court of Special Appeals.

Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County issues order clarifying its February 2009 decision. Court declares that MDA may release farmer names in certain circumstances, but they must remove information that would allow a reader to link a specific individual with a specific NMP.

Maryland Court of Special Appeals rejects the Waterkeepers’ challenge to the MDE’s AFO General Permit, rejecting Waterkeepers’ claim that the permit is not stringent enough to protect state waters, including the Chesapeake Bay. The appellate court finds the state’s general permit system is actually “broader” than the requirements of federal law.

Hudsons incur ongoing legal bills defending against Waterkeepers’ lawsuit filed in March of 2010.