WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A lawsuit claiming that the sugar industry’s controlled crop burns are dangerous to nearby residents in Florida has been dropped.
Court records show attorneys for several of Florida’s largest sugar companies and attorneys for a dozen residents from Glades, Hendry and Palm Beach counties agreed Friday in West Palm Beach federal court that the case should be dismissed with prejudice and each side should pay their own attorney fees.
The class-action lawsuit was filed in June 2019, claiming the burns reduce property values and compromise air quality with toxic carcinogens.
U.S. Sugar Corporation spokeswoman Judy Sanchez said sugarcane farmers have maintained from the start that the lawsuit was without merit.
