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Common Law Nuisance, Trespass and Toxic Torts
The common law theories of nuisance and trespass form the foundations of much of current environmental law. Nuisance describes unreasonable interference with one’s right to use their property. Trespass concerns a person’s right to exclusive occupation of their property. While they are ancient legal theories, nuisance and trespass are very much part of current environmental litigation. They also are central to legal claims or “toxic torts” surrounding the release of toxic materials into the environment and subsequent human exposure to those materials. The attorneys of Stites & Harbison have represented plaintiffs as well as defendants in these types of actions.
Representative matters include
- Defended claims by neighbors that various operations were a nuisance and that materials released from the operations trespassed on the plaintiffs’ property. The defendant businesses have included agricultural feeding operations for swine and poultry, quarrying and rock-crushing facilities, surface coal mines, and manufacturing facilities.
- Asserted common law claims of nuisance, trespass, and interference with riparian rights against an entity that discharged pollutants upstream of the affected property owner.
- Defended manufacturer of lead batteries against claims of nuisance, pollution of water, and personal exposure to toxic amounts of lead dust.