WILMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) – The Delaware Superior court has granted summary judgment in favor of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) in an organization's lawsuit against it over permits for poultry farms.
In his 10-page ruling issued Nov. 27, Judge Ferris W. Wharton wrote that there were “no genuine issues of material fact” in a lawsuit filed by Food and Water Watch against DNREC. The judge noted that first the moving party, then the non-moving party, must “show that there are material issues of fact for resolution by the ultimate fact-finder.”
"Accordingly, the court finds that there are no genuine issues of material fact and that DNREC is entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law," Wharton wrote.
Food and Water Watch had sued the department over a new permit system regulating concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) for poultry facilities. Food and Water Watch alleged that the new permit did not “require that CAFOs monitor effluent discharge in surface waters to ensure compliance with the general permit’s zero discharge requirement,” the ruling states.
Additionally, it said that the permit "fails to regulate discharge of pollutants, including litter, dust, feathers, and ammonia from ventilated poultry houses," Wharton wrote.
Food and Water Watch said that because of that lack of oversight, the permit went against the Clean Water Act, as well as Delaware state law. Further, it said that zero discharge requirement "does not excuse the failure to require discharge monitoring requirements,” the ruling states.
In response, the DNREC said its permit did comply with both federal and state law because neither required that the DNREC permit have any requirements of regulating CAFOs for monitoring surface water.
Wharton ruled in favor of the DNREC. He said that that the DNREC permit “includes measures to prevent all production area discharges of manure, litter, and process wastewater” which aligns with federal and Delaware law.