Opinion ID: 2571639
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Continuing and Permanent Torts

Text: Having delineated the elements of the underlying torts of trespass and nuisance, we must determine what makes them continuing or permanent. The typical trespass or nuisance is complete when it is committed; the cause of action accrues, and the statute of limitations beings to run at that time. But in cases, for example, when the defendant erects a structure or places something on or underneath the plaintiff's land, the defendant's invasion continues if he fails to stop the invasion and to remove the harmful condition. In such a case, there is a continuing tort so long as the offending object remains and continues to cause the plaintiff harm. See W. Page Keeton et al., Prosser and Keeton on The Law of Torts § 13 (5th ed.1984). In the context of trespass, an actor's failure to remove a thing tortiously placed on another's land is considered a continuing trespass for the entire time during which the thing is wrongfully on the land. Restatement (Second) of Torts § 161 cmt. b. Until the thing tortiously placed on the land, or underneath the land, is removed, then liability for trespass remains. See 75 Amer. Jur.2d Trespass § 26 (2002). The same is true for nuisance. If the defendant causes the creation of a physical condition that is of itself harmful, even after the activity that created it has ceased, a person who carried on the activity that created the condition is subject to continuing liability for the physical condition. Restatement (Second) of Torts § 834 cmt. e. For continuing intrusions  either by way of trespass or nuisance  each repetition or continuance amounts to another wrong, giving rise to a new cause of action. See Fowler V. Harper et al., The Law of Torts § 1.7 (3d ed.1996). The practical significance of the continuing tort concept is that for statute of limitation purposes, the claim does not begin to accrue until the tortious conduct has ceased. Id. We recognized claims for continuing torts in Wright, 40 Colo. 437, 91 P. 43. In Wright, the plaintiff's house was adjacent to the defendant's slaughterhouse. We held that the harmful noises and stenches emanating from the slaughterhouse to the plaintiff's property constituted a continuing nuisance. We reasoned that the defendant was liable until the nuisance was abated and the cause of damage removed. 40 Colo. at 440, 91 P. at 44 (citing Consol. Home Supply Ditch Co. v. Hamlin, 6 Colo.App. 341, 40 P. 582 (1894)). [6] The plaintiff's claim was not barred by the statute of limitations because the continuing of a trespass or nuisance from day to day is considered in law a several trespass on each day. Id. In other words, for statute of limitations purposes, a claim would only accrue once the defendant abated the nuisance and removed the cause of damage. [7] Since Wright, Colorado courts have applied the concept of continuing trespass to various factual contexts; however, these cases reflect little additional analysis. See Steiger v. Burroughs, 878 P.2d 131, 136 (Colo.App.1994)(defendant's house remaining on plaintiff's property constituted continuing trespass); Cobai v. Young, 679 P.2d 121, 123-24 (Colo.App.1984)(snow sliding from defendant's roof to plaintiff's house constituted continuing trespass); Docheff v. City of Broomfield, 623 P.2d 69, 71 (Colo.App.1980)(defendant's storm drainage system flooding plaintiff's adjacent property constituted continuing trespass). Notably, we have also held a defendant liable for continuing nuisance for discharging pollution into a creek used by farmers downstream to irrigate land and crops. See Wilmore v. Chain O'Mines, Inc., 96 Colo. 319, 327, 44 P.2d 1024, 1028 (1935). Although continuing trespass and nuisance remain viable concepts in Colorado under Wright and its progeny, not every trespass or nuisance that continues is necessarily regarded as one. Harper et al., The Law of Torts § 1.7. Colorado courts have embraced the concept of permanent trespass and nuisance to distinguish those unique factual situations  primarily in the context of irrigation ditches and railway lines  where the trespass or nuisance would and should continue indefinitely. See Middelkamp, 46 Colo. 102, 103 P. 280; Seven Lakes Reservoir Co. v. Majors, 69 Colo. 590, 196 P. 334 (1921); Hickman, 748 P.2d at 1350. For example, in Middelkamp, the defendant built an irrigation ditch in loose, porous soil. As a result of the loose soil, water seeped through the bottom and sides of the ditch, causing flooding damage to plaintiff's adjacent properties. 46 Colo. at 104, 103 P. at 280. We found that the irrigation ditch, as a permanent improvement, was distinguishable from the abatable nuisance we analyzed in Wright (house adjacent to cattle slaughterhouse). We reasoned that irrigation ditches were intended to be permanent structures and seep by necessity. Id. at 107-09, 103 P. at 282. Because the irrigation ditches were permanent, the seepage would continue indefinitely absent extraordinary measures. Id. at 115, 103 P. at 283. [8] Even if the seepage was abatable, we declined to require it for defendants who lawfully constructed irrigation ditches because they represented a class of enterprises so vital to the future development of our state. Id. at 115, 103 P. at 284; see also Ft. Lyon Canal Co. v. Bennett, 61 Colo. 111, 123, 156 P. 604, 609 (1916) (declining to find that seepage from an irrigation ditch constituted a continuing nuisance because maintenance of the siphon was a laudable occupation authorized by the laws and statutes of the state.). The practical impact of the Middelkamp decision was that an action to recover for present and future damages would accrue when the lands were first visibly affected. 46 Colo. at 112, 103 P. at 283. In addition to irrigation ditches, we have applied the concept of permanent tort to the construction and maintenance of railway lines. See Denver & Santa Fe Ry. Co. v. Hannegan, 43 Colo. 122, 127, 95 P. 343, 345 (1908). In Denver & Santa Fe Ry. Co., the city authorized the defendants to construct railway lines and run trains on a street abutting the plaintiffs' property. Because of the permanent nature of the railway line and the legal authorization required to construct a railway track, we held that plaintiffs could only recover for permanent interference with their land. Thus, we held that the statute of limitations would begin to run from the first occupancy of the street for railway purposes. Id. at 127, 95 P. at 345. Similar to the context of irrigation ditches, defendants who lawfully constructed and maintained railway lines represented an enterprise that was vital to the future development of the state. In sum, Colorado law recognizes the concepts of continuing trespass and nuisance for those property invasions where a defendant fails to stop or remove continuing, harmful physical conditions that are wrongfully placed on a plaintiff's land. [9] The only exception is a factual situation  such as an irrigation ditch or a railway line  where the property invasion will and should continue indefinitely because defendants, with lawful authority, constructed a socially beneficial structure intended to be permanent.