Laws 310 Week 7

Week 7 Simulation

Student Name

LAWS310

DeVry University Online

Private Nuisance, Public Nuisance and Trespass Law

Factual Summary

Neighbors Invested in a Clean Environment (NICE) brought a citizen’s suit against the liquid manure spreading operation of Northfield Farms, a dairy farm. Sam Anxious testified on behalf of the plaintiff group NICE, and Chris Lively testified on behalf of the defendant group Northfield Farms.

Northfield Farms handles the large amount of manure produced on the dairy farm through the use of a series of pipes which connects the 6 storage lagoons that hold up to 8 million gallons of liquid cow manure each to a center pivot, which is self-propelled and sprays the manure between 12 and 30 feet in the air and produces a “horrific” smell. Sam Anxious’ property shares a boundary line with Bountiful State Park and Northfield Farms. Northfield Farms has a marshy area where liquid manure tends to collect after a “big” rain. The liquid manure flows into a ditch which in turn flows off the Northfield property into Bountiful State Park and joins a stream which ultimately flows into the Nishna River. The pipe running along the property line which allows the liquid manure to eventually join the Nishna River was leaking and Northfield Farms fixed the pipe, but Sam Anxious had to hire someone to clean up the manure at a personal expense of $500. As a result, NICE is concerned about harmful substances entering the river where they draw water for personal use.

The defense contends that Sam Anxious knew that Northfield Farms was a dairy farm and was in operation when he moved in 5 years ago. Chris Lively feels that the manure that leaked onto the Anxious property could have been considered beneficial as fertilizer and that she should have charged them for it. She also uses the same water with no problems and none of the neighbors have complained about being sickened by the water.

Issue

The legal questions that are being...