Mealey's (December 6, 2017, 1:17 PM EST) -- NEW BERN, N.C. — A federal judge in North Carolina on Dec. 4 ordered Smithfield Foods Inc. to allow a consultant to have access to 11 farms to continue to investigate how to reduce groundwater contamination, finding that the work is allowed under a consent decree the company entered into with two environmental groups (Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc., et al. v. Smithfield Foods, Inc., et al., No. 01-cv-27-H, E.D. N.C., 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 198537)....