After legal fight over odors, Prestige Feed Products plans to move out of Mount Prospect within 6 months
Prestige Feed Products, which has been engaged in a legal battle with the village of Mount Prospect for more than year stemming from neighbors’ odor complaints, plans to move its operation within six months.
The announcement was made in an email to the animal feed plant’s neighbors from Mount Prospect Village Manager Michael Cassady.
Cassady wrote that during a Monday morning court hearing Prestige’s attorney said the company was planning to move its operations within the next six months and believed most, if not all, claims in Prestige’s suit would be moot.
Cook County Judge Thomas More Donnelly set several deadlines within the next six months, Cassady said. If Prestige has not moved or the parties cannot otherwise agree on a resolution of the case, a jury trial is set for Sept. 22.
The next court date in Jan. 28.
“We understand the issue continues to impact quality of life and we will continue to enforce our ordinances in court as required,” Cassady wrote.
Neighbors in both Mount Prospect and Des Plaines have complained of a “burnt cheese” smell emanating during operational hours from the plant at 431 Lakeview Court.
The path to litigation began as far back as 2021, when both parties agreed to postpone legal action and try to find an amicable resolution to their dispute. The village terminated the agreement in April 2023.
In order to prevent the village from shutting down the operation, Prestige filed suit in June 2023. Mount Prospect subsequently filed a counterclaim, and the neighbors later pursued a class-action lawsuit. Des Plaines entered the legal fray this year.
There’s no word yet where Prestige is planning to relocate.
“This is a win-win,” Mount Prospect Mayor Paul Hoefert said. “They will cease operations here, and the stench that has been produced by their facility will cease and people that are affected in Mount Prospect and in Des Plaines will find relief in the near future.”
Neighbors of the plant were also pleased by the news.
“It’s been awful,” Ed Kulaga, a resident of the Longford Glen subdivision in Des Plaines, said of what he called a five-year ordeal. “My kids literally would have to hold something over their face at the bus stop.”
Prestige’s attorney, Riccardo DiMonte, could not be reached for comment.