Practice and Review: Environmental Law
Residents of Lake Caliopa, Minnesota, began noticing an unusually high number of lung ailments among the local population. Several concerned citizens pooled their resources and commissioned a study to compare the frequency of these health conditions in Lake Caliopa with national averages. The study concluded that residents of Lake Caliopa experienced four to seven times the rate of frequency of asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema as the population nationwide.
During the study period, citizens began expressing concerns about the large volume of smog emitted by the Cotton Design apparel manufacturing plant on the outskirts of town. The plant had a production facility two miles east of town beside the Tawakoni River and employed seventy full-time workers. Just downstream on the Tawakoni River, the city of Lake Caliopa operated a public water works facility, which supplied all city residents with water.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency required Cotton Design to install new equipment to control air and water pollution. Later, citizens sued Cotton Design for various respiratory ailments allegedly caused or compounded by smog from Cotton Design’s factory. Using the information presented in the chapter, answer the following questions.
Under the common law, what would each plaintiff be required to identify in order to be given relief by the court?
What standard for limiting emissions into the air does Cotton Design’s pollution-control equipment have to meet?
If Cotton Design’s emissions violated the Clean Air Act, how much can the EPA assess in fines per day?
What information must the city send to every household that it supplies with water?
