COTTONWOOD ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER, ET AL V. RON EDWARDS, ET AL, No. 22-36015 (9th Cir. 2023)
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This case involves alleged violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA). Plaintiff Cottonwood Environmental Law Center (Cottonwood) filed suit against Defendants Big Sky County Water & Sewer District No. 363 (the District) and Boyne USA, Inc. (Boyne) for their alleged discharge of treated wastewater into the West Fork of the Gallatin River (the West Fork) without a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. The district court ruled that Cottonwood could not advance a direct-discharge theory of CWA liability against the District at trial. The district court also dismissed Cottonwood’s claim against Boyne for lack of proper notice.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court’s judgment. Affirming in part, the panel held that the district court properly ruled, in orders denying summary judgment, that Cottonwood could not advance a direct-discharge theory of liability against the District at trial. The panel held that it had jurisdiction to review the district court’s orders denying summary judgment to Cottonwood because, in those orders, the district court rejected Cottonwood’s direct-discharge theory as a matter of law. The panel affirmed the district court’s holding that the District could not be liable on a direct-discharge theory because an underdrain pipe below but not connected to the District’s holding ponds did not transfer pollutants between meaningfully distinct water bodies and thus was not a “point source” of pollution. Reversing the district court’s dismissal of Cottonwood’s Clean Water Act the panel held that Cottonwood’s letter to Boyne provided sufficient notice of Cottonwood’s indirect-discharge theory of liability.
Court Description: Environmental Law The panel affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court’s judgment after a jury trial in favor of defendants in an action under the Clean Water Act.
Cottonwood Environmental Law Center filed suit against Big Sky County Water & Sewer District No. 363 and Boyne USA, Inc., for their alleged discharge of treated wastewater into the West Fork of the Gallatin River without a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit. The District provides water and wastewater services for a resort community at Big Sky, Montana, and it treats and stores wastewater so that the resulting effluent can be reused for irrigation on nearby properties in Big Sky, including the golf course owned by Boyne.
Affirming in part, the panel held that the district court properly ruled, in orders denying summary judgment, that * The Honorable Kiyo A. Matsumoto, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York, sitting by designation. Cottonwood could not advance a direct-discharge theory of liability against the District at trial. The panel held that it had jurisdiction to review the district court’s orders denying summary judgment to Cottonwood because, in those orders, the district court rejected Cottonwood’s direct-discharge theory as a matter of law. The panel affirmed the district court’s holding that the District could not be liable on a direct-discharge theory because an underdrain pipe below but not connected to the District’s holding ponds did not transfer pollutants between meaningfully distinct water bodies, and thus was not a “point source” of pollution. The panel held that, under the “meaningfully distinct water bodies” test, there is no requirement that the source water be navigable.
Reversing the district court’s dismissal of Cottonwood’s Clean Water Act claim against Boyne for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, and remanding, the panel held that Cottonwood’s letter to Boyne provided sufficient notice of Cottonwood’s indirect-discharge theory of liability.
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