Chickenshit Lawsuit Unites Eastern Shore Farmers

Lawsuit leaves lasting impact on farms

Even though a federal judge sided with the Hudson family in the lawsuit brought against them by the New York-based environmental group Waterkeeper Alliance, the effects of the lawsuit on farms in Worcester County is lasting.The Waterkeeper Alliance had alleged in its lawsuit that the Hudsons — and co-defendant Perdue Farms Inc. — had discharged pollutants from their family chicken farm in Berlin into ditches that drain into the Pocomoke River. Last month, Judge William Nickerson cleared the Hudsons of any wrongdoing and chastised the environmental group for irresponsible actions...

The lawsuit and its fallout galvanized the Delmarva farm community and formed bonds unseen in years. Farmers up and down the Peninsula showed support for the Hudsons’ plight, even posting handmade signs along highways expressing unity...

“As someone who every day goes into a chickenhouse,” said County Commissioner Virgil Shockley, himself a Snow Hill-area farmer, “I can tell you that the people I run into, the farmers, there was a lot of apprehension. You had people who literally put their lives on hold waiting for this decision.

“It’s a huge amount of worry that Alan Hudson and his family and their kids went through,” Shockley said. “You can’t even describe this. Because you don’t know what you’re going to lose; you don’t know which way that verdict’s going to go down. And it wasn’t a slam dunk.”Several benefit events have been held to assist the Hudson family with their legal bills. Savefarmfamilies.org is a donation point for the Maryland Family Farmers Legal Defense Fund. The website states that 100 percent of funds raised will go to support the Hudson family to pay their legal bills.

Nothing like the fear of economic death to get your attention. The Waterkeepers may come to deeply regret overreaching on this suit.