U.S. 5th Circuit holds property owner’s federal Clean Water Act claim against Town for improper discharge was proper due to lack of comparable state regulation
Stringer v. Town of Jonesboro, 20-30192 (5th Cir. Jan. 18, 2021)
In this §1983 taking suit and federal Clean Water Act (“CWA”) case, the U.S. 5th Circuit held the Plaintiff’s §1983 suit for damages due to sewage backup was barred, but not her Clean Water Act claim.
Stringer alleges that, since at least 2011, the Town’s wastewater treatment system has malfunctioned during periods of heavy rain, with chronic failures of a specific pump. She asserts the Town failed to respond to her complaints as political payback she ran against the mayor in an election. She was also an alderwoman. The Louisiana Department of Health (LDOH) and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) were aware of the overtaxed system. LDEQ sent the Town warning letters and issued compliance orders. LDOH also enforced the State Sanitary Code, issued the Town a compliance order imposed mandatory ameliorative measures and assessed a daily fine. Stringer brought a “citizen suit” under the CWA, 33 U.S.C. § 1365, as well as constitutional takings claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. She also sued the Mayor asserting he retaliated against her. The Defendants filed a motion to dismiss which the trial court granted. Stringer appealed.
The CWA creates a regime of water pollution regulation that harnesses state and federal power but also allows citizen suits. However, such citizen suits are not permitted if the applicable state is already prosecuting comparable enforcement actions. A state statute is “comparable” to the CWA so long as the state law contains comparable penalty provisions, has the same overall goals, provides interested citizens a meaningful opportunity to participate at significant stages of the decision-making process, and has adequate safeguards. The Louisiana Sanitary Code provides no formal or structured means for interested citizens to become aware of LDOH’s enforcement efforts, nor any mechanism by which they can call for further action. However, LEQA’s enforcement mechanisms provide for interested parties to obtain “periodic notice” of “all violations, compliance orders and penalty assessments,” because it mandates public comment before a proposed settlement is finalized, and because it permits third parties to “intervene in an adjudicatory hearing, or petition for an adjudicatory hearing if none is held.” However, LDEQ was not the focus of the Defendants’ diligent prosecution argument in the district court. Further, whether LDEQ has “diligently” pursued a comparable action under § 1319(g) may be “a fact-intensive question that can only be answered after the proper development of a record.” As a result, the CWA claims should not have been dismissed. However, Stringer’s §1983 takings claim had a one-year statute of limitations. Stringer’s complaint confirms she was aware of the pertinent underlying facts as early as November 2011. A cause of action accrues when the plaintiff learns the facts giving rise to her injury. As a result, such claims were properly dismissed. Finally, Stringer’s First Amendment retaliation claim was also time-barred.
If you would like to read this opinion click here. Panel consists of Justices Elrod, Duncan and Wilson. Opinion by Justice Duncan.
