Mountaire settles one of two lawsuits over wastewater violations in Millsboro

Mountaire Farms has reached a settlement with one of two class-action lawsuits over complaints that the company’s plant contaminated local drinking water in Millsboro.

Over a hundred people connected to the lawsuit were able to reach a settlement, officials from Jacobs & Crumplar, P.A. and Nidel & Nace, PLLC announced on Thursday.

Residents wells and water became contaminated because of poor monitoring, treatment, and improper storage of wastewater at Mountaire’s plant in Millsboro, according to the complaint.

As a result, area residents suffered increased medical issues – including gastrointestinal disease, cancer and more, according to the lawsuit.

Raeann Warner, attorney for the Plaintiffs stated, “This settlement allows our clients to hopefully turn the page and continue on with their lives. We thank Mountaire for doing the right thing and recognizing that these families, many of whom lived in the shadow of the Mountaire plant, deserved compensation. At the mutual request of the parties the terms of the settlement are confidential.”

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court over the company’s spray irrigation practices at its Millsboro plant.