United States Fourth Circuit

In common-law nuisance action contending coal plants emit various pollutants which travel through the atmosphere into North Carolina, adversely impacting human health and environmental quality, denial of defendant authority's motion to dismiss is affirmed over claims that the suit is barred by: 1) the discretionary function doctrine; 2) the Supremacy Clause; and 3) the holding of Ferris v. Wilbur, 27 F.2d 262 (4th Cir. 1928).

Appellate Information

• Decided 01/31/2008
• Published 01/31/2008

Judges

• Before WILLIAMS, Chief Judge, and NIEMEYER and SHEDD, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Fourth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• ARGUED:  Edwin W. Small, Assistant General, Office of the General, Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville, Tennessee, for Appellant.   Christopher G. Browning, Jr., Solicitor General, North Carolina Department of Justice, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.   ON BRIEF:  Maureen H. Dunn, General, Harriet A. Cooper, Assistant General Counsel, Frank H. Lancaster, Senior Attorney, Maria V. Gillen, Attorney, Office of the General, Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville, Tennessee, for Appellant.  Michael D. Goodstein, Stacey Myers, Resolution Law Group, P.C., Washington, D.C.;  Richard E. Ayres, Ayres Law Group, Washington, D.C.;  Roy Cooper, Attorney General, James C. Gulick, Senior Deputy Attorney General, Marc Bernstein, Special Deputy Attorney General, North Carolina Department of Justice, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.   Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General of the State of New York, Barbara D. Underwood, Solicitor General, Daniel Smirlock, Deputy Solicitor General, Michelle Aronowitz, Assistant Solicitor General, Robert Rosenthal, Assistant Attorney General, J. Jared Snyder, Assistant Attorney General, New York, New York;  Douglas F. Gansler, Attorney General of the State of Maryland, Susan F. Martielli, Assistant Attorney General, Kathy M. Kinsey, Assistant Attorney General, Baltimore, Maryland;  Henry McMaster, Attorney General of the State of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina;  Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General of the State of California, Sacramento, California;  John W. Suthers, Attorney General of the State of Colorado, Denver, Colorado;  Richard Blumenthal, Attorney General of the State of Connecticut, Hartford, Connecticut;  Joseph R. Biden, III, Attorney General of the State of Delaware, Wilmington, Delaware;  Lisa Madigan, Attorney General of the State of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois;  Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General of the State of Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa;  G. Steven Rowe, Attorney General of the State of Maine, Augusta, Maine;  Martha Coakley, Attorney General of the State of Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts;  Jim Hood, Attorney General of the State of Mississippi, Jackson, Mississippi;  Kelly A. Ayotte, Attorney General of the State of New Hampshire, Concord, New Hampshire;  Stuart Rabner, Attorney General of the State of New Jersey, Trenton, New Jersey;  Marc Dann, Attorney General of the State of Ohio, Columbus, Ohio;  W.A. Drew Edmondson, Attorney General of the State of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma;  Patrick C. Lynch, Attorney General of the State of Rhode Island, Providence, Rhode Island;  William H. Sorrell, Attorney General of the State of Vermont, Montpelier, Vermont;  J.B. Van Hollen, Attorney General of the State of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin;  Linda Singer, Acting Attorney General for the District of Columbia, Washington, D.C., for Amici States of New York, Maryland, South Carolina, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C., Supporting Appellee.  Hope M. Babcock, Senior Attorney/Director, Emma E. Garrison, Staff Attorney, Institute for Public Representation, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C., for Amici American Lung Association and American Thoracic Society, Supporting Appellee.