Supreme Court Upholds $4.75 Million Judgement for West Union Dairy Operators

The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld a $4.75 million verdict for a northeast Iowa dairy farm.

The award came after the operators of the Vagts Dairy in West Union sued Northern Natural Gas Company claiming stray electrical current from a pipeline corrosion prevention system made their cows sick. In 2022, 17% of the cows belonging to Mark, Joan and Andrew Vagst died. That’s over three times the normal mortality rate for a dairy herd of 5%.

Mark Vagts testified at the lawsuit trial in January 2023, “Sometimes you get to the point you don’t even want to get up in the morning because you don’t know what you’re going to find out there,”

The gas company appealed saying jury instructions were in error and the monetary award was too much. However, the Supreme Court ruled the jury instructions on what constitutes a nuisance were proper and the jury’s finding that stray voltage was definitely offensive, seriously annoying, and interfered with the Vagts’ normal use of land.

That ruling means the Vagts will receive $3 million for economic damages, $1.25 million for personal inconvenience and discomfort, and $500,000 for loss of use and enjoyment of property.

Read more in this story from the Iowa Capital Dispatch.