Opinion ID: 174796
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Plaintiffs' Nuisance Claims

Text: Defendants next argue the district court's instructions on Plaintiffs' nuisance claims were legally incorrect. Specifically, Defendants argue Colorado law does not permit a risk-based theory of nuisance which lacks scientific foundation. Defendants also argue that in order to prove they substantially and unreasonably interfered with Plaintiffs' use and enjoyment of their property, Colorado law requires Plaintiffs to show Defendants' emissions exceeded any relevant federal or state safety standards. The court reviews these questions of law de novo. Martinez, 572 F.3d at 1132.
Under Colorado law, a plaintiff asserting a nuisance claim must establish an interference with the use and enjoyment of his property that is both substantial and unreasonable. [20] Public Serv. Co. of Colo. v. Van Wyk, 27 P.3d 377, 391 (Colo.2001). The district court instructed the jury that Plaintiffs could meet their burden of establishing an interference with the use and enjoyment of their properties if they proved plutonium contamination from the activities at Rocky Flats exposed them to either some increased risk of health problems or a demonstrable risk of future harm. We agree with the district court that a jury may find the presence of radioactive contamination creates an actual risk to health and thereby interferes with a plaintiff's use or enjoyment of his land if the contamination disturbs the plaintiff's comfort and convenience, including his peace of mind, with respect to his continued use of the land. See Cook v. Rockwell Int'l Corp., 273 F.Supp.2d 1175, 1203-04 (D.Colo.2003). But that is not the end of the inquiry. Any interference with a plaintiff's use and enjoyment of his property must be both substantial and unreasonable. Under Colorado law, an interference is deemed substantial if it would have been offensive or caused inconvenience or annoyance to a reasonable person in the community. Saint John's Church in Wilderness v. Scott, 194 P.3d 475, 479 (Colo.App.2008). In determining whether an interference is unreasonable, the jury must weigh the gravity of the harm and the utility of the conduct causing that harm. Van Wyk, 27 P.3d at 391. The jury was properly instructed on the elements of a nuisance claim as well as the definitions of substantial and unreasonable. While the resolution of these issues typically involves questions of fact, a scientifically unfounded risk cannot rise to the level of an unreasonable and substantial interference. To the extent Plaintiffs rely on anxiety from an increased risk to their health as an interference with the use and enjoyment of their properties, that anxiety must arise from scientifically verifiable evidence regarding the risk and cannot be wholly irrational. The district court concluded otherwise in light of its review of Restatement (Second) of Torts § 821F, cmt. f, which states: In determining whether the harm would be suffered by a normal member of the community, fears and other mental reactions common to the community are to be taken into account, even though they may be without scientific foundation or other support in fact. Thus the presence of a leprosy sanatarium in the vicinity of a group of private residences may seriously interfere with the use and enjoyment of land because of the normal fear that it creates of possible contagion, even though leprosy is in fact so rarely transmitted through normal contacts that there is no practical possibility of communication of the disease. This court previously cast doubt on whether Colorado would follow this rule, given the potential for anachronistic results. Boughton v. Cotter Corp., 65 F.3d 823, 832 n. 13 (10th Cir.1995). Instead, we suggested in Boughton that Colorado courts would require[] some evidence to substantiate the fears. Id. Otherwise, a plaintiff could state a viable nuisance claim any time neighboring property owners contracted a misunderstood disease, whether contagious or not. Such a result would be absurd. Plaintiffs are unable to point to any Colorado case in the fifteen years since Boughton that has endorsed the Restatement's position. More importantly, the Restatement conflicts with Colorado's unreasonableness requirement, which expressly requires the trier of fact to weigh the gravity of the harm and the utility of the conduct causing that harm. Van Wyk, 27 P.3d at 391. No reasonable jury could find that irrational anxiety about a risk that cannot be scientifically verified tips this balance so as to render the interference unreasonable. Accordingly, we now confirm what we previously suggested in Boughton and predict that the Colorado Supreme Court would not permit recovery premised on a finding that an interference, in the form of anxiety or fear of health risks, is substantial and unreasonable unless that anxiety is supported by some scientific evidence. The district court erred in concluding otherwise.
Defendants also argue the district court erred in trying the nuisance claims without reference to applicable federal and state safety regulations. Specifically, Defendants argue the jury should have been instructed that if plutonium contamination in the property class area falls within the applicable federal or state safety levels, it cannot be deemed unreasonable. The Defendants point to the Colorado Supreme Court's decision in Van Wyk, where the plaintiffs claimed the defendant's upgrades to electrical lines created an intentional nuisance due to increased noise, electromagnetic fields, and radiation particles invading the property. Id. at 382. The defendant argued the relevant agency's approval of the voltage involved in the upgrades rendered any interference per se reasonable. Id. at 393. The Colorado Supreme Court indicated that to the extent an agency's regulations actually quantify the standard of reasonableness for the particular conduct involved, this determination controls in the nuisance context. Id. Under the facts of Van Wyk, however, the court concluded the agency's determination of reasonableness lacked any specificity with respect to electromagnetic fields and noise such that the complaint stated a viable nuisance claim because it alleged the defendant's conduct was unreasonable to the extent it exceeded the noise and electromagnetic fields the agency anticipated might occur. Id. at 393-94. Under the circumstances, the court concluded the plaintiffs sufficiently pleaded a nuisance claim. In light of Van Wyk, Defendants proposed jury instructions stating Defendants' release of plutonium could only be found unreasonable if the release did not comply with controlling state and federal standards. The district court rejected this instruction, concluding Van Wyk dealt with quasi-judicial determinations that differ in nature from the federal and state regulations identified in Defendants' proposed jury instructions. The district court believed the safety regulations offered by Defendants were more akin to zoning regulations and ordinances and, under Colorado case law, compliance with zoning statutes does not insulate a defendant from nuisance liability. Hobbs v. Smith, 177 Colo. 299, 493 P.2d 1352, 1354-55 (1972). This court need not decide whether Van Wyk applies here because we agree with the district court's alternative ruling that none of the regulations referenced in Defendants' proposed jury instructions are on point. For instance, Defendants rely on a regulation issued by the Colorado State Board of Health which states, Contamination of the soil in excess of 2.0 disintegrations per minute (0.03 Bq) of plutonium per gram of dry soil ... presents a sufficient hazard to the public health to require the utilization of special techniques of construction upon property so contaminated. 6 Colo.Code Regs. 1007-1:4.60. This regulation says nothing about the minimum level at which such contamination becomes unreasonable. It merely indicates special care must be taken for construction on property contaminated at the particular level indicated. Similarly, Defendants point to documents issued by the Atomic Energy Commission and the Department of Energy. It is not clear whether any of these documents have the force of law or apply to safety levels outside a nuclear facility, and the issue is inadequately briefed for resolution here. [21] Accordingly, Defendants have failed to establish that any of the state or federal standards referenced in their proposed jury instructions overcome the general rule that the jury must determine whether a given interference is unreasonable by weighing the harm against the utility of the interference.