Question

The Naughton family lives in a suburban neighborhood outside of Houston, Texas. When the Naughton family originally moved into their home, there was an empty lot across the street owned by a commercial realtor. After five years, the empty lot across from the Naughton’s home was sold to a mink farm. Mink farming raises a mink through its entire life cycle until the mink is ultimately harvested for its fur. The mink farm outside of the Naughton family composites the mink’s bodies for fertilizer after being harvested. The Naughton’s claim that the pungent smells from the mink farm make it difficult to go outside and open windows in the house. The Naughton family is also worried that the compositing process of the mink’s bodies could be contaminating the ground water with various diseases.

Air and water pollution are most often regulated by the federal Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. As these are federal standards for pollution, the federal government typically files enforcement actions.

The Naughton’s, a private family, have filed a suit against the mink farm alleging violations of these Federal environment laws pertaining to air pollution and ground water contamination. Do the Naughton’s have standing to sue?

Answer 1

Under the Clean Water Act, EPA has implemented pollution control programs such as setting wastewater standards for industry. EPA has also developed national water quality criteria recommendations for pollutants in surface waters.

The Clean Water Act made it unlawful to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters, unless a permit was obtained . Industrial, municipal, and other facilities must obtain permits if their discharges go directly to surface waters.

The Clean Air Act, seeks to protect human health and the environment from emissions that pollute ambient, or outdoor, air.

Under the Clean Air Act , the factories/industries requires permit before starting their production . Also , they are required to follow certain control measures.

By understanding the provision of clean water act and clean air act , if the composition waste is contaminating the ground water leading to dieases and causing difficuilty to breathe , then Naughton’s have standing to sue.