US Court Of Appeals For The Eighth Circuit Refuses To Certify Nuisance Class Alleging Fear Of Contamination But No Actual Contamination

Keywords: environmental contamination, class action

In a recent environmental contamination class action, Smith v. ConocoPhillips Pipe Line Co.,1 the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed a Missouri district court's order certifying a class of property owners who sought to recover under a nuisance theory for their subjective fears that nearby contamination might spread onto their property. By requiring evidence of actual injury or contamination, this decision provides important clarification of common-law nuisance doctrine. The Eighth Circuit's decision is consistent with similar holdings from the Fourth and Fifth Circuits,2 as well as from the Michigan, Utah, Kansas, and Ohio Supreme Courts.3

This case involved a leak of leaded gasoline from a Phillips-owned underground pipeline in the 1960s in West Alton, Missouri. The leak was repaired, but the gasoline was not recovered. In 2002, Phillips purchased certain West Alton residents' properties after tests revealed unacceptable levels of benzene. The homes were subsequently demolished and the properties remediated.

In 2011, other nearby landowners brought a putative class action alleging negligence and nuisance claims. The landowners sought monetary damages for diminution of property values and injunctive relief compelling remediation of the contaminated property. The US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri granted in part and denied in part the property owners' motion for class certification. The district court granted certification to property owners within 0.25 miles of the contaminated site on the negligence claim for damages and injunctive relief on the theory that "pockets of contamination" might exist.4

The Eighth Circuit reversed the district court's decision because the landowners lacked evidence that their properties had actually been contaminated and thus failed to demonstrate a common injury. Relying on what the court called a "contemporary consensus reached by persuasive authority on the meaning of common law nuisance in the context of environmental contamination," the court explained that "the putative class fear of contamination spreading from the West Alton leak site to harm their property is not a sufficient injury to support a claim for common law nuisance in the absence of proof."

This decision should be useful in limiting the number of potential plaintiffs in environmental litigation. Indeed, given the strong line of authority to which it adds...