Opinion ID: 547478
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Fairly Traceable

Text: 21 PDT contends that PIRG has failed to demonstrate that the injuries suffered by its members are fairly traceable to PDT's exceedances of its NPDES permit. In support of its motion for summary judgment on this issue, PDT submitted the affidavit of LeRoy Sullivan, an engineering consultant, who stated that to a reasonable scientific certainty ... [PDT's] operations do not adversely affect water quality in the Kill Van Kull at or about the Kill Van Kull Park.... It is also my opinion that [PDT's] operations do not adversely affect water quality in the Kill at any other location except perhaps in some purely speculative and theoretical way. Affidavit of LeRoy Sullivan, p. 2, Joint App. p. 93. PDT also submitted the affidavit of Allen Dresdner, a professional planner and consultant, who testified to the heavily industrialized character of the Kill Van Kull and stated his opinion that the poor water conditions complained of by the plaintiffs did not originate from Powell Duffryn nor are they related to Powell Duffryn's discharges. Affidavit of Allen Dresdner, p. 18, Joint App. p. 126. 22 In denying PDT's motion for summary judgment 5 , the district court stated that PIRG could show causation merely by showing violations of the discharge permits. PIRG I, 627 F.Supp. at 1083. PDT asserts that this is an erroneous statement of the law of standing and that Valley Forge and its progeny require a close causal link between the content of a defendant's effluent and the harm complained of by the plaintiffs. 6 Although we agree that a permit exceedance alone is not sufficient to satisfy the second prong of Valley Forge, the facts are sufficient here to trace PIRG's injuries to PDT's discharges. 23 The requirement that plaintiff's injuries be fairly traceable to the defendant's conduct does not mean that plaintiffs must show to a scientific certainty that defendant's effluent, and defendant's effluent alone, caused the precise harm suffered by the plaintiffs. A plaintiff need not prove causation with absolute scientific rigor to defeat a motion for summary judgment. 7 The fairly traceable requirement of the Valley Forge test is not equivalent to a requirement of tort causation. Cf. Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Environmental Study Group, Inc., 438 U.S. 59, 78, 98 S.Ct. 2620, 2633, 57 L.Ed.2d 595 (1978). 24 The standing requirement ensures that parties will not convert the judicial process into 'no more than a vehicle for the vindication of the value interests of concerned bystanders.'  Valley Forge, 454 U.S. at 473, 102 S.Ct. at 759 (quoting United States v. SCRAP, 412 U.S. 669, 687, 93 S.Ct. 2405, 2416, 37 L.Ed.2d 254 (1973)). In order to demonstrate that they are more than concerned bystanders, plaintiffs need only show that there is a substantial likelihood that defendant's conduct caused plaintiffs' harm. Duke Power Co., 438 U.S. at 75 n. 20, 98 S.Ct. at 2631 n. 20, 57 L.Ed.2d 595 (1978). In a Clean Water Act case, this likelihood may be established by showing that a defendant has 1) discharged some pollutant in concentrations greater than allowed by its permit 2) into a waterway in which the plaintiffs have an interest that is or may be adversely affected by the pollutant and that 3) this pollutant causes or contributes to the kinds of injuries alleged by the plaintiffs. 8 25 This will require more than showing a mere exceedance of a permit limit. Thus if a plaintiff has alleged some harm, that the waterway is unable to support aquatic life for example, but failed to show that defendant's effluent contains pollutants that harm aquatic life, then plaintiffs would lack standing. In this case, several affiants stated that the water had an oily or greasy sheen they found offensive. 9 PDT's permit contained limits on the oil and grease PDT could discharge in its effluent. Joint App. p. 2154. PDT's reports to the EPA indicate that PDT has discharged oil and grease in excess of these limits. Thus the aesthetic injury suffered by the plaintiffs may fairly be traced to PDT's effluent. 10 PIRG has satisfied the second prong of the Valley Forge test.