INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ An environmental group is challenging the constitutionality of Indiana's right-to-farm laws on behalf of two rural families who say the stench coming from a large hog farm nearby is making their homes unlivable.
Hoosier Environmental Council attorney Kim Ferraro says the civil lawsuit was mailed Tuesday to Hendricks County Superior Court just west of Indianapolis.
The complaint alleges that the farm 4/9 Livestock LLC, which houses up to 8,000 hogs, has made the plaintiffs' homes “at times unlivable'' since it opened in 2013. The suit also names Co-Alliance LLP, which owns the farm's hogs, and three individuals.
Indiana's right-to-farm law was passed in 2014 and protects state farmers' rights to use “generally accepted'' production practices.
The suit alleges that the law gives livestock farms legal immunity.
