By Marshall Griffin, St. Louis Public Radio
Jefferson City, Mo. – An environmental advocate is calling on Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster to return a campaign contribution made last year from a company that owns eleven hog farms in the northern part of the state.
Premium Standard Farms is under a court order to make improvements to its operations.
Ken Midkiff with the Missouri Clean Water Campaign says Koster accepted a $2,500 donation from Smithfield Foods, which owns Premium Standard Farms, just days before the 2008 Democratic Party primary.
"He's the Attorney General responsible for carrying out the court order on Smithfield (Foods)...and we think that at the very least Attorney General Koster should return the money," Midkiff said.
Phone calls to the Attorney General's office were not returned. But a spokesperson issued a statement, which says in part that Koster is "preparing for possible litigation" if Premium Standard Farms fails to comply with the court order by June of next year.
The statement made no mention of the campaign contribution in question.