RALEIGH — NC Attorney General Josh Stein is appealing a July ruling ordering his department to remit funds collected from a lawsuit settlement to schools instead of projects and organizations picked by Stein.
Special Deputy Attorney General Matthew Tulchin filed the appeal on behalf of Stein on Aug. 15.
Last month, Wake County Superior Court Judge A. Graham Shirley ruled money collected in the Smithfield Foods settlement must be appropriated by the General Assembly and used for environmental enhancement in public schools.
The ruling applies to funds received after July 1, 2019. That date was chosen as it corresponds to the year North Carolina was changed to dictate such settlements be deposited in the state treasury.
The money in question is from an agreement made in 2000 between Smithfield Foods and then-Attorney General Mike Easley after the company’s hog waste pits overflowed due to the impact of Hurricane Floyd. Smithfield was ordered to pay $2 million annually for 25 years.
The settlement funds were placed under the control of the North Carolina attorney general’s office, which critics said amounted to a slush fund that allowed the attorney general to pick groups or projects for environmental grants with no oversight.
Stein’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the appeal.
