|
Jack A DeCoster?
Maine Contract Farming/DeCoster Egg Farm has a three decade-long complaint history from workers, neighbors, environmental officials, labor officials and humane workers.
In 1977 neighbors whose homes were infested with insects filed a $5 million lawsuit, claiming nose plugs and flyswatters should be the "new neighbor" kit.
In 1980, the DeCoster operation was charged with employing five 11-year-olds and a 9-year-old by the Labor department.
In 1988, 100,000 chickens burned to death in a fire and were left to decompose.
In 1992, DeCoster was charged by the state with indenturing migrant workers and denying them contact with teachers, social workers, doctors, lawyers and labor organizers.
In 1996, federal investigators found DeCoster workers living in rat and cockroach infested housing and OSHA found their drinking water contaminated with feces. Yum.
("The conditions in this migrant farm site are as dangerous and oppressive as any sweatshop we have seen,'' said then Labor Secretary Robert Reich; "I thought I was going to faint and I was only there a few minutes,'' said Cesar Britos, an attorney representing DeCoster workers, after entering a barn.)
And manure spills? They have occurred so regularly with DeCoster trucks, a 1994 article in the Portland Press Herald -- "Chicken Manure Leaves Foul Mess; A Truck Accidentally Dumps The Raw Waste" -- and 2007 article -- "Manure-Truck Accident Leaves Recipient Seething -- read almost identically.
Still Jack DeCoster, using Boston spinmeister George Regan for public relations, eluded criminal convictions and farm closures and even expanded his empire from egg farms in Maine to pig farms in Iowa in the 1990s.
But his Teflon days could be changing. Beside the cruelty breakthrough, last week's settlement might be the first time states have tapped abusers for the future costs of monitoring them.
The $100,000 will fund increased inspections, "in a time of limited budgets our staff size has been limited," said Christine Fraser, a Department of Agriculture veterinarian who was instrumental in the settlement, to the Sun Journal. "If we are out there more often, we'll be able to stop things before they get this bad."
Nathan Runkle, executive director of Chicago-based Mercy For Animals agrees. "Over the next five years, if Maine Contract Farming fails the unannounced inspections it has agreed to, criminal charges will likely be filed."
And Maine Contract Farming? Jack DeCoster's son, Jay, who is operations manager said, "We are pleased to put this matter behind us so we can focus on the successful operation of our farm."
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(346 posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
