A retired Hendricks County farmer says the smell from a large nearby hog facility has ruined his life.
The Hoosier Environmental Council filed a lawsuit against the concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) in Hendricks County on Wednesday.
"It's an old home, I understand that. Pretty neat old home," Richard Himsel said from his property about five miles northwest of Danville.
Himsel was born and raised on the property. The CAFO can be seen in the distance, through cornfields and about a third of a mile away. It was built to hold about 8,000 hogs.
"The prevailing wind basically is out of the southwest, so it blows right onto my wife and I. I do know when they moved the hogs in, within three days, we could start smelling the odor," Himsel said.
Within a week, Himsel's wife started complaining about headaches. She would wake up hacking and eventually had to move out. She now lives with her daughter in New Palestine.
"You can't be a family. I can't be with my wife. We're married, I love her. It just doesn't work," Himsel said.
Himsel also believes his property value has fallen significantly since the hog farm moved in.
"They are living with unlivable conditions because of a factory farm that moved in right next to them," said Kim Ferraro, Senior Attorney for the Hoosier Environmental Council.
The CAFO is owned by one of Himsel's many first cousins, Sammuel Himsel, who is now a defendant in the lawsuit. Eyewitness News reached out to the owners, who said they were unaware of the lawsuit until Wednesday. The family and their attorney have not issued a formal response.
The suit claims Indiana's Right to Farm Law can hurt rural homeowners because they offer special protections to big livestock companies.
"The law needs to protect them and it doesn't," Ferraro said.
Himsel has filled the lining of his back door with insulation. He is also getting new windows installed.
"Who wants to sit out here, you cant. You can't even sit out here," Himsel said from his patio. "I have no idea what's going to happen to us. I cannot at this time visualize what that would be."
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