Court Opinion

ID: 9859103
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 18:41:57.623529+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T10:06:13.423648
License: Public Domain

KELLY, Justice
(dissenting).
I must respectfully dissent from the majority’s position, for in my opinion the district court exceeded its authority in forever prohibiting trap and skeet shooting at the White Bear Rod and Gun Club. This harsh remedy was not justified by the evidence adduced or the equities advanced by plaintiffs.
I am mindful of the fact that the majority opinion would not preclude the Gun Club from remedying the conditions found by the trial court to constitute pollution and making application to that court for relief permitting it to use its property “within limitations required by the Minnesota Environmental Rights Act.” But what are those limitations? Would 66 decibels of sound (normal vocal conversation) at the edge of the Gun Club property satisfy those limitations? Unless the standards are set, how can the Gun Club plan to overcome the objections to noise? Minn.St. 116.07, subd. 2, set forth in Mr. Justice Todd’s dissenting opinion, mandates that the Pollution Control Agency (PCA) adopt standards for the maximum levels of noise. That statute precludes local governmental agencies from adopting more stringent standards. It is doubtful that courts should do so. I join in Mr. Justice Todd’s dissenting opinion, except as hereafter modified.
Plaintiffs cited the Gun Club as the source of two pollutants: noise and lead shot. The majority finds that the evidence abundantly supports plaintiffs’ contention that both pollutants were “likely to materially adversely affect the environment.” Minn.St. 116B.02, subd. 6. I do not dispute the abundance of plaintiffs’ evidence — the length of the majority opinion is sufficient testimony to that — instead I dispute its probative value.
Mr. Justice Todd ably demonstrates the dubious character of plaintiffs’ evidence of noise pollution. Mr. Alfonso Perez of the Noise Pollution Control Section of the PCA conducted two surveys of noise in the area of the Gun Club. After the first, he sent a letter to the president of the Gun Club advising him that the club would likely meet impulsive noise standards to be promulgated by the PCA.1 A year later, Mr. Perez conducted the second survey at the request of plaintiffs. Inexplicably, the simultaneous firing of 16 shotguns was thought to be an accurate representation of trap and skeet shooting at the club. As Mr. *790Justice Todd observes, these results are largely irrelevant. But even assuming ar-guendo that they have some probative value, they reflect that the noise from the Gun Club (averaging 68 decibels at a point adjacent to the shooters) was akin to the sound produced by a voice in normal conversation (66 decibels). Such a noise level might well be disturbing in a true wilderness, but the waters of Rice Lake were stirred by more than an occasional breeze rustling grasses (32 decibels). A paved road runs immediately past the Gun Club. Moreover, as Mr. Justice Todd describes, other shooting facilities are present in the neighborhood.2 Thus, the testimony of local residents as to the disturbing reports from the Gun Club needs to be discounted somewhat.3
The PCA has not yet adopted impulsive noise standards, and as indicated in Mr. Perez’s letter (see, footnote 1, supra), it is not clear that the Gun Club could not meet the promulgated standards.4 If so, the 40-decibel restriction prescribed in the special use permit would be without effect. Minn.St. 116.07, subd. 2. Furthermore, although defendant did not establish the defense suggested by Minn.St. 116B.04, i. e., that there was no feasible and prudent alternative location for the Gun Club, the evidence presented did indicate a number of means by which defendant might possibly reduce its noise to acceptable levels. Such methods include, in Mr. Perez’s words:
“Lots of barriers, depressed usage, the number of shots could be reduced, hours of operations could be reduced, curfews as far as time of day in which it is used, or days of the week in which it is used. There are many ways in which you can make a source be much better soundwise. Another area that had been discussed with me a number of times by the citizens was the objection to individuals loading their own shells and putting more powder than there should be, etc. The gun club could specify tight limitations on the shot used. If necessary, they might even think in terms of not allowing private shells, you know, just store purchased shells which might have better quality control. Many, many areas could be investigated.”
Although sound barriers may be effective only in their immediate vicinity, distance itself will help muffle the sound of gunfire for more remote areas. In any event, no reason appears that would justify precluding the Gun Club from attempting to meet applicable noise standards. The problem is that no standards have been set.
In any event, the Environmental Rights Act does not envision a mechanical implementation of the worthwhile goal of preserving our environment. Instead, as the majority acknowledges, the act vests courts with discretion to balance in each case the value of protecting our natural resources against the competing social values that may be present. In this respect, decisions under the act are not unlike traditional nuisance cases, but with the difference that the act instructs us as to the greater weight to be given environmental values. In the instant case, it appears that the competing interests can be reconciled by permitting the Gun Club to operate under noise restrictions. The remedy employed by the district court is uncharacteristic of equitable relief, for it uncompromisingly inflicts unnecessary hardship upon defendant. I cannot concur with its validity in these circumstances. Some temporary standards should be set by the court until valid standards are adopted by the PCA.
Much the same analysis is applicable to the court’s finding that the lead shot from *791spent shells is an enjoinable pollutant. Lead shot presents harm to this environment in two respects: First, by being ingested by waterfowl and, second, by leaching into the waters of Rice Lake. The evidence is conflicting in both respects. Residents contradicted one another as to whether ducks had been seen feeding in the boggy northern part of the Gun Club property. The expert witnesses for plaintiffs largely assumed that the area was one in which ducks would feed. I believe that a fair appraisal of all testimony would indicate that feeding by ducks in the areas of lead deposits would be insignificant. Similarly, possible leaching of the lead shot pitted plaintiffs’ experts against the Rice Creek Watershed District, the city of Hugo’s environmental assessment of the Gun Club, and the amount of leaching that occurred at the prior site of the Gun Club over a 30-year period.5 A fair appraisal of this testimony would indicate that leaching would be within acceptable standards. Given the toxicity of lead, however, I would hesitate to hold the court’s findings clearly erroneous. But even so, an unconditional permanent injunction against ill-fits the circumstances. Employment of steel shot or the periodic recapture of lead shot would seem a more appropriate remedy to accommodate the opposing interests.6
I do not intend to denigrate in any fashion the tranquility and natural wonders Rice Lake and the surrounding wetlands offer. But in our pursuit of environmental sanctuary, we cannot forget the identity of the supplicants — individuals, each with impenetrably different values and outlooks. And when these values conflict, as is likely when differing land uses are in proximity, a balancing of carefully weighed interests must occur. Here, the injunction granted by the district court secured environmental protection at unnecessary hardship to defendant. I would not enjoin the Gun Club’s operation unless and until (1) the trial court first sets temporary standards for noise and the Gun Club is given a reasonable opportunity to meet those standards and fails to do so, or valid PCA noise standards are adopted for the area and the Gun Club fails to meet them; and (2) the Gun Club is given a reasonable opportunity to present a plan acceptable to the PCA to periodically recover lead shot. Nor should an injunction be issued if the Gun Club can meet suitable standards for noise and agrees to require users of its facilities to use steel shot in shot guns in lieu of lead shot.

. The letter read in substance: “As you have requested, the following are some observations on the proposed Hugo’s Rod and Gun Club.
“The noise produced by a shotgun is classified as a impulsive noise in our proposed NPC-1 noise regulation. Our proposed regulation establishing noise standards for the State of Minnesota, NPC-2, does not include impulsive noises. Due to the complexity of human response to impulsive noises, further research will be conducted prior to proposing any standard for the State.
“On March 28, 1974, we conducted a survey of the noise produced by a single shooter on the proposed site of the club and the noise received by homes on the perimeter of the club. As a result of this survey, it is my opinion, that the intensity of the sound measured at the various homes, most probably, will not exceed the limits of acceptability of future impulsive noise standards.
“This situation could easily change by construction of homes close to the club or improper management of the club. I hope that this fact is recognized by both the club and the community, and that future developments reflect the recognition.”

. Dr. Stephen Chapman, for example, testified to the disturbing presence of the Bald Eagle Sportsmen’s Association, which features an outdoor rile range: “ * * * There’s been an occasion in the past when they shot bazookas out there. That shook the house completely.”

. One local resident testified that the noise from the Gun Club was equivalent in volume to her children shooting in the backyard. She lived 1⅛ miles from the Gun Club.

.The standards will vary of course with the context of the sound source. Minn.St. 116.07, subd. 2. Other states have apparently adopted a wide range of noise standards: e. g., Illinois (50 decibels by day, 45 by night) and New York (100 decibels by day).

. It must be noted that the state according to news media is proposing banning the firing of 12-gauge lead shot within 150 yards of a body of water. The Gun Club property is 3 times that distance from Rice Lake.

. The majority suggests that recapture of lead shot would be infeasible in this area. That seems a .judgment more properly decided by the Gun Club, however, so long as the recovery process itself does not materially adversely affect the lands north of its property. Whether every effort to recapture lead shot would pollute those lands was not determined by the judgment below. Presumably the land where the shot would fall would be used for farming or some other economic purpose if not used as Gun Club property.