BALTIMORE (AP) - Attorneys for Perdue Farms and an Eastern Shore contract grower who successfully defended a poultry pollution suit say they should be awarded attorney fees to discourage similar suits in the future.
The attorneys made the claims in filings Thursday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. A federal judge tossed out the suit in December, chastising the Waterkeeper Alliance for not conducting adequate sampling to identify the source of pollution found near Alan Hudson's Berlin farm.
Perdue has said it is seeking up to $2.5 million. The latest filings say the company paid attorneys for more than 10,000 hours of work. Hudson's attorneys say the farmer accumulated about $500,000 in fees.
The alliance was represented by University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic, which said it would respond later this month.
