Yancey v. United States

10 Cl. Ct. 311, 1986 U.S. Claims LEXIS 839
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedJuly 10, 1986
DocketNo. 413-85C
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 10 Cl. Ct. 311 (Yancey v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Yancey v. United States, 10 Cl. Ct. 311, 1986 U.S. Claims LEXIS 839 (cc 1986).

Opinion

OPINION ON DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT

PHILIP R. MILLER, Judge:

This suit is brought by plaintiffs Andrew H. and Elizabeth H. Yancey to recover compensation for turkey breeder stock that was sold for slaughter as a result of a quarantine imposed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to control and eradicate an outbreak of lethal avian influenza in 1983-84. Plaintiffs allege a taking of their property without compensation, in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, because the quarantine prevented the interstate sale of their stock and thereby destroyed its economic value. They also allege that defendant violated 21 U.S.C. § 114a and 21 U.S.C. § 134a by denying them compensation for the value of the flock.

Defendant moves over plaintiffs’ opposition for summary judgment on the statutory claim only.

Statement of Facts

Plaintiffs were engaged in the business of producing and selling turkey hatching eggs and the poults hatched therefrom on their farms in Rockingham County, Virginia. On or about November 1, 1983, plaintiffs acquired a flock of 3,000 turkey breeder hens and 295 turkey toms for purposes [313]*313of selling the turkey hatching eggs produced to customers outside Virginia. Plaintiffs paid $31,684 for this stock.

In mid-October of 1983, four flocks of poultry in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania suffered substantial mortality, and an almost complete cessation of egg production, as the result of an outbreak of pathogenic avian influenza, a highly contagious viral disease of poultry. In its nonpathogenic or mild form, avian influenza causes little death loss and a small drop in egg production. In its pathogenic form, mortality and egg loss rates are substantially higher; the Lancaster outbreak resulted in greater than 90 percent mortality. The mild form can change to the more virulent form.

In response to the Pennsylvania outbreak, on November 8, 1983, the USDA promulgated regulations, 9 C.F.R. § 81, pursuant to its authority to regulate the interstate movement of diseased or exposed animals and to prevent the interstate spread of communicable disease.1 The regulations quarantined certain areas in Pennsylvania, prohibited the interstate movement of live poultry infected with or exposed to pathogenic avian influenza, and carcasses, manure and litter of such poultry from such areas, and restricted interstate movement of certain articles, such as eggs and materials exposed to the disease. 48 Fed. Reg. 51422-51423.

On November 14, 1983, pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 134a(b), the USDA declared an “extraordinary emergency” in the State of Pennsylvania, finding (48 Fed. Reg. 51798):

Highly pathogenic avian influenza is a dangerous communicable disease of poultry and it is determined that an extraordinary emergency exists because of outbreaks of the disease in Pennsylvania, and that such outbreaks threaten the poultry of the United States, constitute a real danger to the national economy, and seriously burden interstate and foreign commerce.

The Secretary of Agriculture also determined that the State of Pennsylvania could not adequately control such outbreaks, and federal involvement was required. Under § 134a(b), that declaration empowered the Secretary to seize, quarantine and dispose of any animals which he found to be or to have been infected or exposed to the disease, and to pay fair market value compensation for animals destroyed. The emergency was extended to New Jersey on November 28, 1983. 48 Fed. Reg. 53678.2

Outbreaks of nonpathogenic avian influenza in Maryland and Virginia were traced to the Pennsylvania outbreak. Concerned that these cases might convert to the pathogenic form, USDA amended 9 C.F.R. § 81 to cover all forms of the avian influenza virus under the name “Lethal Avian Influenza.” 49 Fed.Reg. 3839-3845 (Jan. 31, 1984). These regulations added specified counties in Maryland and Virginia (including Rockingham County, Virginia) to the list of identified quarantine areas. However, because the outbreaks were in mild form, and because the USDA determined that the Commonwealth of Virginia and the State of Maryland were taking adequate measures to control and eradicate the disease, no extraordinary emergency was declared in either Maryland or Virginia. Id.

The quarantine applicable to plaintiffs prohibited interstate shipment of live poultry, manure from poultry, and litter used by poultry and restricted interstate movement of carcasses, eggs and certain equipment. Permits were necessary to move restricted articles, and certain disinfection procedures were necessary to receive such permits. 49 Fed. Reg. 3843.

Pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 114a, the USDA published regulations applicable to areas not under the declaration of an emergency, authorizing payment of up to 100 percent of the “expenses of purchase, destruction [314]*314and disposition of animals and materials required to be destroyed because of being contaminated by or exposed to lethal avian influenza.” 49 Fed.Reg. 3446-3448, amending 9 C.F.R. § 53.2(b).

The quarantine in Virginia remained in effect until September 14, 1984, when USDA determined that the disease had been eradicated. 49 Fed.Reg. 36630-36631.

Plaintiffs cooperated with the quarantine. Their flock underwent testing and surveillance by state and federal laboratories. Although these tests revealed no evidence of avian influenza, defendant did not permit plaintiffs to ship their turkeys or hatching eggs interstate during the quarantine. Unable to find a market for either the breeder stock or its eggs in Virginia, plaintiffs requested assistance from the Commissioner of Agriculture of Virginia to locate a market. That search proved unsuccessful.

In this period, plaintiffs were spending up to $1,800 weekly to maintain the flock. Plaintiffs decided that keeping the flock alive was uneconomic in the face of a quarantine of indefinite duration. They decided to sell the stock for meat, although the turkeys had not been “raised to be economically viable” for that purpose. The stock was sold for slaughter on February 13, 1984 for $20,887.

Plaintiffs submitted a claim to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of USDA, pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 114a and 9 C.F.R. § 53.2(b), as amended, for indemnity payments for the destruction of plaintiffs’ turkeys. If eligible, plaintiffs would receive $63,556 for the stock slaughtered. APHIS denied payment on the ground that pathological tests performed on plaintiffs’ stock revealed it to be healthy.

Plaintiffs filed suit in this court.

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Bluebook (online)
10 Cl. Ct. 311, 1986 U.S. Claims LEXIS 839, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/yancey-v-united-states-cc-1986.