A group of citizens from the Mountville area have filed suit along with the South Carolina Environmental Law Project in Columbia to challenge S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control authorization this past spring of new poultry houses on the eastern end of Lisbon Road.

The lawsuit is against the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services, the name given July 1 to the environmental wing of DHEC. Agency officials granted full approval for eight poultry houses each on two separate but adjacent properties on the north side of Lisbon Road near the intersection of Highway 72.

“The agency doesn’t comment on pending or active litigation,” said a response from DHEC media, “but the ‘Requests for a Contested Case Hearing’ was filed with the South Carolina Administrative Law Court.” The lawsuit was filed July 19. It followed a public meeting in April when the community members, who call their group “South Carolinians for Responsible Agricultural Practices,” had requested DHEC hold the public hearing at the Mountville Fire Station so they could explain their concerns to the environmental officials.