Eastanollee family seeks legal counsel after years of living next to a Fieldale Farms owned property

An Eastanollee family is looking for compensation from Fieldale Farms Corporation.

Patricia Barrett and her family are claiming the daily operations of a neighboring property, owned by Fieldale, makes living in their home unbearable.

She says her family is seeking legal counsel in hopes of receiving compensation for punitive damages caused by the excessive run-off of wastewater from the Fieldale property onto their property.

She adds that she wants Fieldale to cover the cost to uproot her family to move elsewhere.

“We want them to buy our property and pay us for damages from their odor. They were suppose to fix the odor, but they never did and they have no plans to fix their odor,” she said.

During a recent public hearing hosted by the Environmental Protection Division, Fieldale Farms President Tom Hensley says he is proud of the operations of Fieldale Farms Corporation.

“We have 80 people employed there and most of them live in Stephens County,” Hensley said. “We have about 35 million dollars invested. We pay $200,000 a year in property taxes. I think we’re a good corporate citizen, we contribute to United Way, FFA. Two of our guys Len Stovall and Mark Smith are on the school board. So I want to assure you we are not expanding production at the plant, all we’re trying to  do is renew the permit we’ve had for 30 years. We have absolutely no run-off , you know, we’ve come a long way and I’m proud of it.”

Barrett tells WNEG News that Hensley’s statement is untrue, because her property is constantly being flooded with run-off from Fieldale’s neighboring property.

She added that she had to take down her swimming pool because of the grease that is carried over into her yard.

“We had to tear down our swimming pool because of all the grease that would get in it, and we couldn’t ever keep the chemicals right because of it. So we had to tear it down because of all their stuff that is blown on us,” she said.

Barrett says that she has a petition for anyone to sign who is against Fieldale Farms Corporation increasing operations.

She says that they only need a few more signatures before filing a suit against Fieldale.

For additional information contact Barrett by calling 706-779-7143.