Case Name: Magee Furnace Company vs. Commonwealth
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Jurisdiction: Massachusetts
Decision Date: 1896-09-02
Citations: 166 Mass. 480
Docket Number: 
Parties: Magee Furnace Company vs. Commonwealth.
Judges: 
Reporter: Massachusetts Reports
Volume: 166
Pages: 480–480

Head Matter:
Magee Furnace Company vs. Commonwealth.
Suffolk.
January 8, 1896.
September 2, 1896.
Present: Field, C. J., Allen, Holmes, Knowlton, & Lathrop, JJ.
Damages — Metropolitan Sewerage Act — Action — Remedy, if any, at Law.
The remedy, if any, for damages occasioned to water in a well by the construction of a sewer by the Metropolitan Sewerage Commissioners in a street opposite the premises on which the well is located, is by an action at law, and not by a petition under St. 1889, c. 439.
Petition for an assessment of damages occasioned to the petitioner’s property in Chelsea by the construction and operation of a sewer by the Metropolitan Sewerage Commissioners, under Sts. 1889, c. 439, and 1890, c. 270. The alleged damages were occasioned by the drying of a well, from December 19, 1892, to July 25, 1893, during which time pumps were used by the contractors in charge of the construction of the sewer in Marginal Street upon which the petitioner’s premises abutted, in order to keep the sewer trench free from water during construction ; and by the pollution of the water of the well, upon the ground that when the water returned, after July 25, 1893, when the pumping finally ceased, there was a change in the quality of the water, which rendered it less desirable for use in boilers and for other purposes connected with the, business of a foundry, which the petitioner carried on upon the property. No portion of the petitioner’s land was taken.
At the trial in the Superior Court, before Blodgett, J., the jury returned a verdict for the petitioner; and the respondent alleged exceptions.
W. D. Turner, for the respondent.
A. Hemenway & C. B. Barnes, Jr., for the petitioner.

Opinion:
Field, C. J.
The result of the decisions made by this court since the trial of this petition in the Superior Court, is that if the petitioner has any remedy for the acts complained of, on which we express no opinion, the remedy is by an action at law and not by petition under St. 1889, c. 439. Chelsea Dye House & Laundry Co. v. Commonwealth, 164 Mass. 350. Cabot v. Kingman, ante, 403.
K^-zvtions sustained.