Torts Flashcards
Torts and the Environment
Torts are useful in Environmental Law in a situation in which a environmental contamination led to personal injury.
What did the people of Woburn sue Beatrice Foods and W. R Grace for?
They filed a Class Action Lawsuit under the common law torts of Negligence, Strict Liability, and Nuisance.
What are Torts that are useful in the case of environmental contamination?
Trespass Negligence Private Nuisance Public Nuisance Ryland v. Fletcher in Canada Strict Liability in America
Negligent Tresspass
You can use negligent Trespass in environmental law, if you can prove that intangible property (such as molecules, contaminated air particles, anything microscopic and invisible to the naked eye) entered your property and caused a clear damage to your property. IT HAS TO HAVE CAUSED DAMAGE.
An example of this is when the gas residue of an Aluminum factory entered the air and food molecules of a farmer. This residue led to the damage of the plaintiffs livestock.
You have to be able to prove damage.
Nuisance
A Nuisance is an unlawful interference with an individuals ability to use and enjoy his or her land. In Tort law outside of the environment, all Nuisance is private, that is because the nature of Tort Law is inevitably a private thing.
Private Nuisance
Private Nuisance is committed in Environmental Law in situations in which environmental contamination or something of the like coming from one party, interferes with the ability of another individual to enjoy the use of his or her land.
An example of this:If you spray pesticide on my farm, and because of it, my crops will no longer grow, this is a nuisance as it interferes with my ability to make my land commercially viable. This can also be a trespass, a nuisance and a trespass are often sued for together.
Public Nuisance
Follows the same criteria for a private environmental Nuisance except you have to prove that this act affected you negatively but also the land of people around you. Also, you have to prove that this act caused you a particular damage not shared by the rest of the affected parties. This is proclaimed to be a ‘legal garbage can’ due to its strange nature
Can you be sued for a Nuisance even if you had a permit or licence to conduct the action you were conducting?
Yes. Unless your permit expresses or implicitly implies that you have a legal right to commit a nuisance or that committing a Nuisance is inevitable, you are definitely vulnerable to be sued for committing a Nuisance.
Negligence
Occurs by imposing liability on individuals who failed to meet the standard involved with their duty of care. This is a standard of a reasonable person. If a reasonable person golfed, they would always shoot par. In industry there are many ways to find whats reasonable, guidelines, industry standards etc.
You can bring forth an environmental negligence claim on a person who caused damage to you or your property due to environmental contamination. An example of this is when a farmer sprays pesticide too early and harms the welfare of a beekeeper and their bees.
Damage must be connected to negligence.
Ryland v. Fletcher
In Canada, and the U.K strict liability is known as Ryland v. Fletcher. It states that whenever somebody is using their real property in ways that are considered unreasonable use of the land.
The idea is that, if you bring something on your land that is susceptible to causing mischief, then it is up to you to keep that item at its peril.
United States Strict Liability
In the U.S in order to prove strict liability, you have to prove that the defendant was partaking in a “abnormally dangerous activity”. An example of this is running a power plant. The nature of power plants is abnormally dangerous as compared to other industrial activities.
New Zealand Strict Liability
In New Zealand, strict liability has the same criteria as Ryland v. Fletcher however you also have to prove that the defendant should have had reasonable foreseeability.
It is not reasonable foreseeable for the defendant to expect that there would be toxins in his water supply such that he could harm other crops. New Zealand’s economy is agricultural based and to expect that their would be a zero level of triclophyr is unreasonable. He wasn’t being negligent. Ryland v. Fletcher exists, but it is really hard to prove.
Accidental Comepensation Act
Occurs in New Zealand, the country makes people pay premiums in regards to the level of risk they are putting civilians in based on their activities. E.x if you drive a motorcycle as that puts individuals on the road at a higher risk. There is talk about incorporating environmental illness but it has yet to be done. This would be huge for fines against companies however it is difficult to prove causation.
Public Trust Doctrine
This doctrine is typically used to ensure access to navigable waters and tidal lands, however it has incredibly broad range and could be used in other cases.
The Philosophy is: Things that are common to mankind,should be given an equal usufructuary to all of the public.
The main idea: If the government holds public lands for the good of everyone, they should make sure their use of the land will benefit the public.
An example of the PTD ioccured when the state government of Illinois attempted to sell a port that the public uses daily, and the people sued. The court upheld that you should not be able to sell this.
PTD in Canada and USA
It is not often successful in Canda and the USA. A Case in the USA went all the way to the Supreme court regarding a federal agencies fiduciary duty to protect the atmosphere from CO2. The Supreme court simply said this is not in our relm of powers and should be dealt with by a politician.
