City of Niles v. Stream Control Comm'n, 17.

Decision Date11 March 1941
Docket NumberNo. 17.,17.
Citation296 Mich. 650,296 N.W. 713
PartiesCITY OF NILES v. STREAM CONTROL COMMISSION.
CourtMichigan Supreme Court

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Proceeding by the City of Niles, a municipal corporation, against Stream Control Commission, for a decree that order of the commission requiring the City of Niles to erect a sewage treatment plant was void. From an order dismissing the petition, the City appeals.

Order affirmed.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Ingham County, in Chancery; Leland W. carr, judge.

Argued before the Entire Bench.

Casper R. Grathwohl, of Niles, for plaintiff and appellant.

Thomas Read, Atty. Gen., and Thomas A. Kenney and Arch M. Black, Asst. Attys. Gen., for appellee.

Herbert J. Roshton, Atty. Gen., and Edmund E. Shepherd, Sol. Gen., for defendant Stream Control Commission.

WIEST, Justice.

Act No. 245, Pub.Acts 1929, Comp.Laws 1929, § 278 et seq., Stat.Ann. §§ 3.521-3.533, created the State stream control commission with power to exercise ‘control of the pollution of lakes, rivers and streams and all waters of the state of Michigan and the great lakes, which are or may be affected by waste disposal of municipalities, industries, public or private corporations, individuals, partnership associations, or any other entity.’

Acting under the provisions of this law, the stream control commission, on March 15, 1938, ordered: ‘That the city of Niles is hereby directed to begin construction of the necessary collecting or intercepting sewers and an approved sewage treatment plant not later than May 1, 1939, the same to be completed ready for operation by May 1, 1941.’ This order followed unsuccessful endeavors by the commission to have the city of Niles take care of its sewage.

The act permits review de novo of such order in the circuit court for the county of Ingham in chancery.

The city of Niles petitioned the circuit court for the county of Ingham to decree the order void on the ground that, considering the location of the city upon the St. Joseph River below cities discharging sewage therein, the order is unreasonable and an unlawful discrimination against the city of Niles and an arbitrary exercise of the powers and duties of the commission. Upon hearing the petition was dismissed, and plaintiff prosecutes this appeal.

It is stipulated: ‘The St. Joseph River has for its source Hillsdale county, Michigan. Before entering the City of Niles it collects the untreated sewage for Three Rivers, Michigan; Constantine, Michigan; Elkhart, Indiana; Mishawaka, Indiana; South Bend, Indiana; Notre Dame and St. Marys, Indiana. That the city of Three Rivers is sixty miles by river from the City of Niles and has a population of 6,863 according to the 1930 census. The city of Constantine is fifty-two and a half miles from the city of Niles and has a population of 1,259. The city of Elkhart is twenty-five miles by river from the City of Niles and has a population of 32,949. The city of Mishawaka is fourteen miles from the City of Miles and has a population of 28,630. South Bend, Indiana, is ten miles from the City of Niles and has a population of 104,193. The universities of Notre Dame and St. Marys are five miles from Niles and have an estimated population of five thousand. That the City of Niles is...

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6 cases
  • City of Huntington v. State Water Commission
    • United States
    • West Virginia Supreme Court
    • 14 Enero 1953
    ...Mill Creek Coal & Coke Company v. Public Service Commission, 84 W.Va. 662, 100 S.E. 557, 7 A.L.R. 1081; City of Niles v. Stream Control Commission, 296 Mich. 650, 296 N.W. 713; Commonwealth v. Roberts, 155 Mass. 281, 29 N.E. 522, 16 L.R.A. 400; Sprague v. Dorr, 185 Mass. 10, 69 N.E. 344; Mi......
  • City of Utica v. Water Pollution Control Bd.
    • United States
    • New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
    • 22 Enero 1959
    ...e. g., Suffolk County v. Water Power and Control Commission, 269 N.Y. 158, 164-165, 199 N.E. 41, 42-43; City of Niles v. Stream Control Commission, 296 Mich. 650, 654, 296 N.W. 713; Shirley v. New Hampshire Water Pollution Commission, 100 N.H. 294, 299-300, 124 A.2d 189; State Board of Heal......
  • Town Of Meredith v. State Bd. Of Health.
    • United States
    • New Hampshire Supreme Court
    • 3 Septiembre 1946
    ...make effective its rules and regulations previously promulgated. The case is, therefore, on all fours with City of Niles v. Stream Control Commission, 296 Mich. 650, 296 N.W. 713, 715. In that case the City of Niles was ordered to established a sewage system and sewage treatment plant in or......
  • Kruizenga v. Earl
    • United States
    • Michigan Supreme Court
    • 11 Marzo 1941
  • Request a trial to view additional results

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