Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Bruce Smith v. ConocoPhillips Pipe Line Co.

<> Bruce Smith  v.  ConocoPhillips Pipe Line Co. - 9/15/15. In the U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit, Case No. 14-2191. In this class action alleging defendant had created a nuisance by contaminating drinking well water within a 1.1 mile radius of its contaminated site. The Appeals Court said the district court erred in certifying the class of homeowner plaintiffs; in light of contemporary consensus by persuasive authority on the meaning of common law nuisance in the context of environmental contamination. The Panel concludes that the putative class fear of contamination spreading from the pipeline leak site to harm their property is not a sufficient injury to support a claim for common law nuisance in the absence of proof.