A jury awarded $70 million to an Alabama man who contracted a flesh-eating bacterial infection after a Tyson Foods rendering plant discharged tens of thousands of gallons of wastewater into a local river in 2019.
The verdict against Tyson and hydraulic service contractor HydraService is the largest in Walker County history, surpassing a $10 million medical malpractice award set in 2017, WBRC reported.
Mark Griffin, a boat repairman from Dora, Ala., filed the civil suit in 2020 after being exposed to wastewater that entered the Mulberry Fork of the Black Warrior River when a temporary pipe system rented from and maintained by HydraService failed. The Alabama Department of Environmental Management estimated approximately 220,000 gallons of rendering wastewater — including chicken heads, beaks, blood, bones and intestines — spilled from the Tyson facility in Hanceville, Ala.
The Mulberry Fork flows into the Black Warrior River, which serves as the primary drinking water source for much of Walker County.
Griffin was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis following the spill. His attorneys said he still has a bone infection and open wound. The four-week trial included testimony from more than a dozen witnesses. The jury found Tyson liable for wantonness and HydraService liable for negligence.
"Mark is a great guy and unbelievably resilient. He's been through so much over the past seven years, and to be able to obtain this kind of result for him is simply incredible," said Josh Vick of Goldasich, Vick & Fulk Attorneys at Law.
Tyson Foods said in a statement it respects the jury's decision but is disappointed in the outcome, maintaining the 2019 spill did not cause Griffin's injuries.
"Tyson Foods' subsidiary, Tyson Farms, acquired the Hanceville facility in August 2018 and has since made significant investments to strengthen operations and enhance environmental performance," the company said, citing the installation of permanent underground piping and air scrubbers.
The 2019 incident was the fourth spill at the Hanceville facility since 2011. It preceded a $3 million settlement with the State of Alabama requiring Tyson to implement measures to reduce future risk.
Griffin was not the only one to file a suit against Tyson for the discharge. The Sipsey Heritage Commission, which says it improves the health and well-being of the community by improving access to natural resources, announced in 2019 that it was suing Tyson “regarding the assault on our river.”
A fire occurred at Tyson’s Hanceville rendering plant in July 2021, but the company announced in April 2021 that it was building a new $208 million, 121,000-square-foot facility with a completion date of 2023.
