Adams

In 1999 and 2000, the federal Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) applied the herbicide Oust to approximately 70,000 acres of federal lands in South Central Idaho in an effort to combat a devastating wildfire cycle. Wind carried some of the Oust off the federal land and onto privately owned farmland nearby. The herbicide caused significant damage to the crops on these farmlands. The Plaintiffs in this case, 134 farmers whose crops suffered as a result of the Oust applications, sued the federal government and Oust’s manufacturer E.I. Du Pont De Nemours and Company (“DuPont”). The district court adopted a bellwether trial plan and selected four Bellwether Plaintiffs to resolve those issues in the case that do not depend on individual circumstances. The resolution of these issues will bind both the Bellwether and all other Plaintiffs. The district court conducted a 16-week trial involving claims against both DuPont and the government. The jury returned an advisory verdict against the federal government, and a verdict against DuPont. As required by the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2402 , the district court, upon its own fact-finding and independent review of…