By Sara Strong
Mark Overgaard, rural Luverne, is new on the list of plaintiffs suing the county over the controversial hog operation, Overgaard Pork.
Overgaard Pork is owned and operated by Chad Overgaard and Scott Overgaard, Kanaranzi Township.
Overgaard Pork, Chad and Scott, County Commissioner Robert Jarchow, former Land Management Office Director John Burgers and the Rock County Board of Commissioners are also being sued.
Original plaintiffs filing in March were Glenn, Mabel and Loren Overgaard, with Mark amending the lawsuit in a letter dated Aug. 30.
Another party is also added to the list of defendants, Schwartz Farms, Sleepy Eye, which owns the animals Overgaard Pork raises.
The plaintiffs are suing for monetary damages exceeding $50,000, which is standard in state cases.
The lawsuit alleges that the defendants conspired to help Chad and Scott wrongfully obtain a hog feedlot permit to build a 3,200-head hog setup about a half mile from GlennÕs property in the fall of 2001.
Glenn protested the permit throughout its process in the county.
The suit claims the defendants didn't act according to law when permits for a feedlot were granted. And beyond that, they falsified records, acted with conflicts of interest, engaged in inappropriate conduct and aided in polluting the plaintiffsÕ land, air and water.
The county's response has been that it acted properly in the permitting process and that the lawsuit has been "brought for an improper purpose."
The parties involved are in the process of discovery and answering allegations.