In December 2000, a group of 18 plaintiffs sued James Pillen and various other defendants, seeking injunctive relief and damages on the theory that the defendants’ hog confinement operation constituted a private nuisance. The plaintiffs alleged that the hog confinement operation, which was conducted at four facilities in two Nebraska counties, had been a nuisance since 1997. In addition, the plaintiffs alleged that they had been deprived of the normal use and enjoyment of their property, and that the defendants had been notified of the plaintiffs’ concerns but had failed to take corrective action. At a 2002 bench trial in a state district court, Pillen testified about the relevant facilities, each of which was classified as a “5,000 sow unit.” The first of the four facilities was put into operation in 1996. The most recent facility was added in 1999. Pillen testified that he knew in May 1997 of a complaint from Nebraska’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) concerning “the odor from [an] incinerator” at one of the facilities. Pillen believed that the DEQ complaint resulted from a complaint made to the DEQ by one of the plaintiffs. In addition, Pillen testified that he had discussed an odor problem with some of the plaintiffs prior to the end of September 1997. 

All 18 plaintiffs testified concerning how the hog confinement operation had affected their lives and the use and enjoyment of their property. The testimony generally concerned the impact of odors. The plaintiffs described the odors from the defendants’ facilities as “unbearable,” as “overwhelmingly a suffocating stench,” as a “musty hog [excrement] smell,” as a “sewage odor,” as a “gas [-like] smell,” and as an odor that “chokes you.” Various plaintiffs said the smell was so bad that they had to keep their houses closed up at all times. The odor problem prevented them from spending time in their yards or gardens, from hanging laundry on outdoor clotheslines, and from participating in outside activities with children and grandchildren. One plaintiff testified that she was a “prisoner” in her own home. According to Pillen’s testimony, the defendants had tried various procedures to diminish the odors emanating from the facilities and waste lagoons located here. These measures included the use of food additives, waste additives, and lagoon treatments. Pillen further testified that he did not think the hog confinement operation had changed the plaintiff’s quality of life or would ever disrupt their daily activities to such an extent that the operation should be changed. 

The trial court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and held that the defendants’ four-facility operation constituted a nuisance. The court ordered the defendants to explore the utility of processes to mitigate the odors and to implement such processes. In addition, the court ordered that the defendants must, within 12 months, “abate the nuisance or cease operating” their hog confinement facilities. Although the court found that the plaintiffs had suffered at least “some damage” as a result of the nuisance, the court noted that “none of the plaintiffs [was] able to quantify any request for damages” and that the plaintiffs “had not adduced any evidence sufficient for the court to award them specific damages.” As a result, the court awarded no monetary recovery to any of the plaintiffs. On appeal to the Nebraska Court of Appeals, the defendants challenged the trial court’s conclusion that the hog confinement operation constituted as a nuisance. The plaintiffs challenged the trial court’s failure to award damages. How did the Court of Appeals rule on the parties’ respective arguments?