Opinion ID: 1678207
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Heading: nebraska nuisance law

Text: Nebraska cases, enunciating applicable standards to determine whether an invasion constitutes a private nuisance, primarily involve claims for equitable relief. The Restatement's distinction between intentional and unintentional invasions has never been explicitly recognized in Nebraska. Relatively recent Nebraska cases, however, apply a standard consistent with the Restatement's view regarding intentional and unintentional invasions: Ordinarily, a legitimate business enterprise is not a nuisance per se, but it may become a nuisance in fact. It may become such by reason of the conditions implicit in and unavoidably resulting from its operation or because of the manner of its operation. Cline v. Franklin Pork, Inc., 210 Neb. 238, 240-41, 313 N.W.2d 667, 669 (1981); Flansburgh v. Coffey, 220 Neb. 381, 370 N.W.2d 127 (1985); City of Syracuse v. Farmers Elevator, Inc., 182 Neb. 783, 157 N.W.2d 394 (1968). Before Cline, Flansburgh, and City of Syracuse, this court, in Vana v. Grain Belt Supply Co., 143 Neb. 118, 10 N.W.2d 474 (1943), refused to enjoin or allow damages as the result of a hog-feeding operation conducted near the Omaha stockyards. In so doing, the court announced that hog-feeding yards are not in themselves a nuisance, and ... they become such only when improperly maintained or conducted. (Emphasis supplied.) Id. at 129, 10 N.W.2d at 476. The Vana court further noted: [W]here pigs are raised under conditions as clean and sanitary as can reasonably be obtained, considering the characteristics of the animal and the necessity of confinement to close quarters, the fact that odors from those quarters are carried over to the premises of the summer residence of another will not make an actionable nuisance. Id. at 130, 10 N.W.2d at 477 (quoting from Clark v. Wambold, 165 Wis. 70, 160 N.W. 1039 (1917)). Thus, under Vana, it seems that a lawful activity or business must be improperly maintained or conducted to be an actionable nuisance. Vana has never been overruled. Seven years after Vana, this court decided Sarraillon v. Stevenson, 153 Neb. 182, 43 N.W.2d 509 (1950), and began developing what eventually has become the current equitable standard in an action based on private nuisance. In Sarraillon, plaintiffs sought to enjoin the operation of a packing plant and stockyard in Nebraska City. Affirming an injunction, the court commented in Sarraillon: A legitimate industry is generally not a nuisance, but it may become a nuisance in fact by reason of the manner of its operation and conditions implicit in and that unavoidably result from its operation.... Id. at 189, 43 N.W.2d at 513. The Sarraillon court further held that [t]he exercise of due care by the owner of a business in its operation does not constitute a defense to an action to enjoin its operation as a nuisance.... Id. at 190-91, 43 N.W.2d at 514. Thus, while the Vana court apparently held that a defendant's activities, conducted with due care, do not constitute a nuisance, the Sarraillon court declared that due care was not a defense to a claim based on nuisance. If there is an inconsistency between Vana and Sarraillon, Nebraska's equitable precedent has now been resolved in favor of a standard which focuses not on the defendant's conduct alone, as advocated in Vana, but, rather, on the conditions implicit in and unavoidably resulting from the defendant's activity or the manner in which the defendant's activities are conducted. See Cline v. Franklin Pork, Inc., supra . Although prior Nebraska cases may not have dealt with a tort claim for damages resulting from a private nuisance, a comparative analysis of current Nebraska standards for an actionable private nuisance and the Restatement's standards is warranted. In a cursory glance, the standard contained in Cline, which focuses on the conditions ... unavoidably resulting from a defendant's conduct, seems inconsistent with the Restatement's standard predicated on a defendant's conduct constituting an intentional invasion of another's interest in land. On closer examination, however, the Cline standard and the Restatement operate similarly: If a defendant's conduct unavoidably results in an interference with the use and enjoyment of another's property, the interference is intentional in the sense that the interference was substantially certain to follow from the defendant's conduct. Thus, while the Cline standard and the standard expressed in the Restatement have semantical distinctions, in reality the standards are consistent and essentially pertain to the same type of conduct. The Restatement's requirement of unreasonable has not been an explicit or implicit requirement for equitable relief from a private nuisance in Nebraska. Rather, for a nuisance in the context of an equity action, the invasion of or interference with another's private use and enjoyment of land need only be substantial. See Karpisek v. Cather & Sons Constr., Inc., 174 Neb. 234, 117 N.W.2d 322 (1962). Thus, concerning equitable relief in accordance with Karpisek, one may have to endure insubstantial interferences with the use and enjoyment of land, but an invasion or interference which is substantial may result in equitable liability for a private nuisance and consequent damages, regardless of the reasonableness of the interference. For a law action tried to a jury, where a court may be required to fashion instructions specifying the requirements for an actionable private nuisance and conquent liability, we are persuaded that the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 822 (1979) expresses a suitable standard to determine when one may be subject to liability and provides more guidance to a jury than do the present expressions concerning existence of a private nuisance as currently characterized in Nebraska equity cases. While enhancing the fact finder's task, the Restatement's intentional and unreasonable invasion requirement takes into account the various property rights of all parties to a law action based on a tortious private nuisance. Therefore, we hold that in a law action one may be subject to liability for a tortious private nuisance (1) if the defendant's conduct is a proximate cause of an invasion of another's interest in the private use and enjoyment of land and (2) if the invasion is intentional and unreasonable or is otherwise actionable under rules controlling liability for negligence or liability for abnormally dangerous conditions or activities. See the Restatement, supra, § 822. Although our holding today provides a standard to determine when a defendant may be subject to liability for a tortious private nuisance and further provides a characterization, definition, or meaning for intentional in reference to an invasion of another's interest in land, our discussion concerning other aspects of the tort of private nuisance is merely submitted for consideration by courts and counsel in framing future questions concerning the tort of private nuisance. Halls maintained a law action for compensatory damages and utilized existing principles applicable for equitable relief from a private nuisance, whereas we have today enunciated a rule pertaining to the type of conduct which may result in tort liability for a private nuisance. As the district court noted, Halls have not alleged that Phillips was negligent or that his conduct involved abnormally dangerous conditions or activities. Nevertheless, we reverse the summary judgment granted to Phillips because there is a genuine question of material fact in Halls' claim. In our review of the record, we find a factual question whether Phillips' invasion of Halls' land by windblown soil tainted with Atrazine was intentional, namely, an invasion substantially certain to follow from Phillips' application of the herbicide as a preemergent weed control, especially in view of frequent and high winds in Morrill County and the extraordinary wind on May 30, 1985. Further, if Phillips intentionally invaded Halls' interest in the use and enjoyment of their land, factual questions exist concerning the unreasonableness of Phillips' invasion. Given the state of the record, those questions cannot be summarily resolved and must await disposition in further proceedings and perhaps resolution by the trier of fact, which may include a jury. Because these issues are not conclusively resolved by the pleadings, depositions, and affidavits in the record presented to us, a genuine issue of material fact exists in Halls' case. The district court improperly granted summary judgment to Phillips. By the same token, under the state of the record, the factual questions which defeat Phillips' entitlement to a summary judgment also preclude a summary judgment for Halls. We reverse the summary judgment granted by the district court and remand this matter for further proceedings. REVERSED AND REMANDED FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS.