Discharge of sewage and offensive substances to adjoining landowner’s property makes the landowner liable.  Under some instances, joint liability can arise and sometimes even the state can be held equally liable for causing injuries to the property of another. At the same time, a landowner can state a negligence claim against the neighbor in certain circumstances.

In Smith v. Cutts [i] individual defendants appealed from an order holding them solely liable for damages resulting from sewage back up on neighboring property and injunction from using their plumbing until the sewage from their treatment plant stopped that affected neighboring property.  Plaintiffs filed a complaint about the sewage and the individual defendants contacted defendant state for help.  Defendant state recommended installing an individual sewage treatment plant and issued a permit for it.  When the problem persisted, individual defendants followed defendant state’s additional recommendations.  Defendant state then informed individual defendants that they were violating the state sanitary code.  The Court observed that the state and installer were equally responsible with defendants for causing injuries resulting from back up of sewage onto property.

Thus, the discharge of sewage upon the adjacent landowner’s land may constitute a nuisance for which damages or an injunction may be granted.

In Aramark Uniform and Career Apparel, Inc. v. Easton[ii], the court held that the owner and operator of a facility on land contaminated with a hazardous substance called perchloroethlyene was subject to suit by department of environmental protection, without proof of causation.

Under common law, a landowner whose land is damaged by pollution from an adjoining landowner can assert various claims including trespass, negligence, and nuisance and also strict liability for hazardous or abnormally dangerous use of land.  However, each of these causes of action requires proof that the defendant caused the pollution resulting in the damages.

In Rychnovsky v. Cole[iii], it was found that a property owner can state a negligence claim against his/her neighbors by proving the neighbor’s duty to maintain a private sewer line over their properties.  The court found that a break in the sewer line was the result of the neighbors’ negligence, and the owner’s property was damaged by the discharge of raw sewage into his/her basement.

[i] 759 So. 2d 851 (La.App. 3 Cir. Mar. 15, 2000)

[ii] 894 So. 2d 20 (Fla. 2004)

[iii] 119 S.W.3d 204 (Mo. Ct. App. 2003)