Saturday, May 4, 2013

Sierra Club v. Cedar Point Oil Co. case brief

Sierra Club v. Cedar Point Oil Co. case brief
(73 F.3d 546 (5th Cir. 1996))

CASE SYNOPSIS: Defendant oil company appealed from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, which granted summary judgment in favor of plaintiff environmental group in its action alleging violations of the Clean Water Act, assessed attorney's fees and a penalty against defendant, issued an injunction, and dismissed defendant's counterclaim for abuse of process. Plaintiff appealed the modification of the injunction.

FACTS: Plaintiff environmental group filed suit under § 1365 of the Clean Water Act (CWA), 33 U.S.C.S. § 1365, alleging that defendant oil company violated CWA by discharging produced water into a bay without a permit. The district court granted partial summary judgment in favor of plaintiff, assessed attorney's fees and a civil penalty against defendant, issued an injunction, and dismissed defendant's abuse of process counterclaim. The court affirmed, holding that plaintiff had standing to bring suit under § 1365 because its members' use of the bay was impaired by the discharge of produced water and the discharge was fairly traceable to defendant. The court also held that plaintiff was not required to allege that defendant violated an effluent limitation or permit provision promulgated by the EPA in order to state a claim under § 1365. Further, the court held that CWA's definition of a "pollutant," 33 U.S.C.S. § 1362(6), was broad enough to encompass the produced water discharged by defendant. The court also held that defendant violated § 1311(a) of CWA, 33 U.S.C.S. § 1311(a), by discharging the water without a permit. The court affirmed the remainder of the district court's findings.

CONCLUSION: The court affirmed the judgment of the district court in favor of plaintiff environmental group because plaintiff had standing, there was no genuine issue of material fact that defendant oil company discharged a pollutant in violation of the Clean Water Act, the district court's assessment of attorney's fees and a penalty was proper, defendant's abuse of process claim lacked merit, and the district court's findings were otherwise free of error.

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