Neighbors Sue for Horse Manure Pile Smell

[ROUSTABOUT]

How do you propose he do that?

I've learned not to incriminate myself.

 

[nyone]

This whole thing sounds like neighbors from hell. I would make sure they have something else to complain about after this was all over.

 

[MotorSeven]

Horse apples and cow patties smell great to me. Maybe I should formulate a cologne..."Manure for Men"

 

[Eagle1]

Horse apples and cow patties smell great to me. Maybe I should formulate a cologne..."Manure for Men"

Just like freshly turned compost piles, smells like future food to me....
Country living at it's finest..

 

[riptides]

This whole thing sounds like neighbors from hell. I would make sure they have something else to complain about after this was all over.

Neighbors I consider as someone next door or a lot over. I thought the OP stated they were down the road a ways.

Frivolous. If they were annoyed they should have taken it up in person first. Even by mail, if needed.

I believe in karma. One day they will reap what they sow.

How do they know where the smell is coming from? Is it really manure they are smelling? Maybe it is their own septic? This is "horse apples".

 

[Torvy]

Horse apples and cow patties smell great to me. Maybe I should formulate a cologne..."Manure for Men"

I wouldn't go that far, but freshly cut alfalfa. I'd wear that!

 

[lilranch2001]

I have a neighbor who collects all his grass cuttings from his 2 acres, and has no place to dispose of them so I let him put them in a ravine in my woods, and every time I walk or drive past, I have a very significant odor coming from the ravine. But it’s 600 feet away from the house and I only smell it when I drive by

 

[Birdhunter1]

You might reach out to the Michigan State University extension equine specialist and see what his manure management plan recommendation would be or what their general recommendations would be for any horse farm. If you are already following that it would be a harder case from the neighbors.

 

[IndyJay]

We've had horses for 40 years, have kept a manure pile, spreading it usually once a year. Never have had an odor problem, and IMHO the horses themselves probably draw more flies than the manure. It reminds me of the area where I grew up near an airport. People bought and built houses right on the flight path, then got together and sued over the noise. Lots of money spent by both sides but guess what? The airplanes still take off and land there.

Good luck getting this resolved, I think you have a firmer leg to stand on. Curious... how is your relationship with other neighbors? Good enough to get a written statement or deposition countering the claims made by these a$%holes? Better yet, would they come to the hearing to testify on your behalf?

 

[zzvyb6]

As a matter of fact, horse manure burns very nicely. (It doesn't burn with a flame, but smolders). Closest smell I can think of is burning cork. What you wind up with is an ash that is an incredible fertilizer for pine trees. Might take a month, but is effective, but you might be admitting that there was a problem.

If you were there first, ask the Judge for 'Costs', and add more to the pile for stress and relief.
Light it up. If that doesn't work, build an airport to accommodate a Wing of B-52 bombers on Yellow Alert at all times. At my place a gun range quieted down the Hood Rats. A 50-BMG being sighted in weekly generates a lot of respect. We do not have a Noise Ordinance, just noise ordnance.

 

[JD TRACTOR MAN]

Hello.

We are, unfortunately, in that gray zone where farmland and residential homes are kind of intermingled so a couple of our neighbors are people who have like 5 or so acres around their house, but are basitically just large residential plots. We have just over 14 acres and had been a horse boarding facility for about 9 years, then last year we quit doing that and are our own private barn. The owners before us were had also boarded horses and done some dog training as well. And even before them, the property was used to board horses. It had basically beena horse boarding facility for like 30 or so years.

We had kept a manure pile that was about 70' or so from the property line and the prevailing winds were west to east. The neighbors in question are to the north. After about three years after moving in (2016ish), they call the state to complain about the manure pile smell and so the ag department comes out to evaluate the manure pile. There are some protections as long as we follow some ag manegment practices they have outlined. They said it was voluntary, but if we followed these practices it would help protect us from nuisance claims. We decided to implement the policies which included moving the manure pile annually to a new site, and keeping it covered with tarps or straw. Though we didn't know who called the state on us, we thought it was a neighbor directly to the north since we had issues with him in the past and the previous owners had mentioned he was a real... well, not nice guy.

5 years pass, no issues, we think its smooth sailing. We have been rotating the manure pile to different spots, usually keeping it covered with some light straw, but we are constantly using and pushing the pile back. Each time I am sure can get kind of smelly. In 2021, the state is called again. They come out, see the manure pile, say the pile is "abated" which we take to mean we are following the procedures and just think the neighbors are being a-holes and harassing us and just keep on keeping on.

2022, we decide to close down the boarding business since we had some people running the barn and it was to much work for me and my wife since we both work other full time jobs. The number of horses on the property drops from like 22-25 to 9, then 8 then 7 and now we are at 6 horses plus a mini. The manure pile sits for like a year without having to add to it or anything since we have less horses and we can spread or the horses are in the pasture.

May of 2023, out of the blue we get a summons for a lawsuit because the manure pile smells. It turns out, the two neighbors to our north - the problem neighbor and one neighbor we didn't even know and never knew had a problem with the manure pile - sue us. They make all sorts of claims. The smell of the manure pile makes it so they can't enjoy their property, its attracting rats that are infesting their property, their property value has been affected, and they have emotional distress and cannot sleep at night.

My wife calls their lawyer because we have no idea whats going on and this was completely out of the blue. She asks "so is this really just about the manure pile? We can move it, no problem, we don't need it there anymore anyways, and we need to move it by July 1 anyways because its been a year." He said yes, but his clients don't want ANY manure piles on the property AT ALL. My wife was like, "well, we can't do that." Because they actually filed a lawsuit and didn't just have their lawyer send a letter, we needed to anwer the lawsuit complaint to the court. We had to retain a lawyer - which costs $15k. Luckily some family was able to help us out to scrape that much money together in a couple weeks.

In our state the statute of limitations for a nuisance lawsuit is 3 years. We have had a manure pile on the property and in that general vicinity for more than 9 years. It seemed pretty straightforward to us and our lawyer so we thought we could answer the complaint and submit a motion to dismiss the case on the basis of the statute or limitations. We did that, but the neighbors (plaintiffs) said in 2016, when state guy came out to look at the manure pile and said it was "abated" and they thought that meant it was gone and then claimed a "new" manure pile was created in 2021. Therefore, if there was a "new" manure pile in 2021, the statute of limitations have not expired and the lawsuit can move forward. At this point in the lawsuit, no evidence has been submitted, only affidavits from me and my wife and 2 of the plaintiffs, and the judge was like, "the defendants say the manure pile has been there since 2013, and the plaintiffs say its a new manure pile in 2021, I don't have any information to conclude one way or the other so the motion to dismiss is denied."

That is basiclaly where we are right now. We are thinking about trying to settle the case since it might be cheaper than carrying on, but it depends on what the neighbors are demanding. We think the plaintiffs never intended to take the case to trial and thought we would try and settle right away - but I am sure they are thinking that settlement will be to remove the manure pile completely and also ask for money to pay their legal fees. But we don't want to pay their legal fees. They should have come to us first. If they did, they would have known we would be willing to move the manure pile and it wouldn't be an issue. The money we are spending was slated to replace some fencing between our respective properties and now its being used to fight a lawsuit.

Anyways, its a sucky situation. People move out to the country and then complain about their farmer neighbors who are actually using their land. Sorry, my property is going to be perfectly manicured because I need to fix fence, change the oil in the tractor, replace a door on a stall, hang a new gate, trap raccoons that are killing my chickens and ducks, and a thousand never ending other things that need my attention. If you wanted to move to the country and live next to people who mow 3 times a week, keep their lawn perfectly manicured, then move to some place with an HOA and you can be happy.

Court cases work slowly, but if you are interested, I will keep you all abreast of how the lawsuit develops. If anyone is a lawyer and wants to help, I won't say no.

Thanks for listening to me vent.

It should be grandfathered in and I can't understand why it wasn't thrown out. I can't stand city people that move to the country and don't like farm life and try to start trouble to change the rules! If you don't want to hear chickens, smell manure stay the he'll in the city and HEAR DRIVEBY GUNSHOTS! I also can't stand gossiping neighbors! I had an idiot neighbor a few years back that moved from the city and buy there new house ten acres form my property and went to the township to complain about my chickens and a battery operated radio I keep on for them . They would do constant drive-bys to try and hear the radio and get a few old biddy gossiping neighbors to try and start trouble with them.Needless to say I put a stop to that,legally of course .They even went as far as buying a decibel meter to see if it was to loud . I have a degree in electronics and when I hard that I totally laughed so hard I peed my pants. So you see unfortunately we live in a world today with a bunch of Idiots that are sue happy. Not to mention unhappy and because there unhappy they want you to be also. I say keep your chin up and fight that nonsense. Good thing they weren't my neighbors I would not only leave that **** there but I would periodically make a nice bonfire with that **** and let them smell that and move back to where ever they came from!!! Good luck this to shall pass!

 

[goddom]

Neighbors I consider as someone next door or a lot over. I thought the OP stated they were down the road a ways.

Frivolous. If they were annoyed they should have taken it up in person first. Even by mail, if needed.

I believe in karma. One day they will reap what they sow.

How do they know where the smell is coming from? Is it really manure they are smelling? Maybe it is their own septic? This is "horse apples".

Yeah, that is one of teh things that really pissed us off. If they talked to us we would have tried to work with them. One neighbor is directly to my north, and the other is the next house over, so another couple hundred feet away.

 

[alexpops]

I had a neighbor like that one time in CA. I had a boat on trailer parked on a poured pad (wide Driveway) beside my garage. Never heard a word from them, but they called the City on me when they were trying to sell their house & I was told by the City Inspector that under city ordinances boats could only be parked directly in or in front of a garage door (assuming it didn't interfere with the sidewalk). So I backed half of the boat into the garage, built a false wall to seal the garage from weather/intruders/etc. & left it that way. They complained again (because it truly did look worse) & began parking my pickup where the boat had been. I saw a cop leaving their house one time about a week later & went out to ask if there was a problem, & was told that they had complained 4 times after the move & were just informed that they would be prosecuted & charged for the response call if they complained again since I was in full compliance with City ordinances. Gave me a warm & fuzzy feeling ... especially when I made sure to be out working on the boat running a grinder every time I was home & they had an open house. Pretty sure it was the wife that did the complaints, as she was a nasty Karen in all aspects. Her husband was just henpecked & a wimp.

 

[FriendwithTractor]

When I had my first big boy IT job, I was singled out as the country bumpkin. One of my coworkers asked me why farmers spread cow poop on the fields rather than, and I quote, "Putting it in the sewer where it belongs."

I didn't last long at that place.

In relation to OP: If you're doing everything correctly, They have no legal leg to stand on. I think they were hoping you'd just bend the knee after seeing the word "LAWSUIT."

 

[dodge man]

I suppose it’s against the law to burn them out?

 

[alexpops]

How close to the fence line are you permitted to put the pile? If you are in compliance currently & moving & covering is all that is necessary to keep you legal, (If it was me) & assuming drainage issues won't put him in the proverbial creek, I'd move the pile as close to (their) fence line as I could, toss a few bales of straw over the top & be done with it for a year. I'd also tell my lawyer to counter-sue for his fee, harassment & emotional suffering. Toss in that you & your wife are so upset over the situation that marital relations have been disturbed -- that's always good for a few bucks.

Probably better to check with your lawyer first.

 

[IndyJay]

I don't think they are looking for suggestions for how to escalate...

 

[alexpops]

Not necessarily trying to escalate, but ... Some people (the neighbor sounds like a prime candidate) don't react properly until they get hit hard with a stick. If they are assuming that Goddom will simply roll over -- this won't be the end of problems. Mutually Assured Destruction & Massive Retaliation Doctrines worked to keep the US & Soviets from starting a nuclear war from 1950 on. It sounds like Goddom & his neighbor won't ever share beers in the shed over a project, but if the neighbor understands that his actions have consequences, maybe he'll leave Goddom alone.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Unfortunately there is always a big city do-gooder moving out to the country and finding things to complain about.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

Had a new property owner do the same thing here to a friend that lives 4 miles away from me. All the border property owners got donkeys, roosters, and trained dogs to bark. The city folk eventually sold and left, then sued again for lose of property value.
Not sugessting you do this.