Ouellette v. International Paper Co., 201

Decision Date04 November 1985
Docket NumberNo. 201,D,201
Citation776 F.2d 55
Parties, 16 Envtl. L. Rep. 20,012 Harmel OUELLETTE and Lila Ouellette, Clifton Browne and Edla Browne, Aldee Plouffe and Shirley Plouffe, individually, on behalf of themselves, and on behalf of all similarly situated plaintiffs, H. Vaughn Griffin, Sr., Ardath Griffin, Alan Thorndike and Ellen Thorndike, Wesley C. Larrabee and Virginia Larrabee, F. Alfred Patterson, Jr., and Lois T. Patterson, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY, Defendant-Appellant. ocket 85-7506.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

Susan F. Eaton, Middlebury, Vt. (Peter F. Langrock, Emily J. Joselson, Langrock Sperry Parker & Wool, Middlebury, Vt., Smith, Harlow & Liccardi, Rutland, Vt., Jeffrey L. Amestoy, Atty. Gen. of the State of Vt., Montpelier, Vt., of counsel), for plaintiffs-appellees.

James W.B. Benkard, New York City (Jamie Stern, John R. D'Angelo, Davis Polk & Wardwell, New York City, Dinse, Erdmann & Clapp, Burlington, Vt., of counsel), for defendant-appellant.

Before KAUFMAN, PRATT, and MINER, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

By order dated February 5, 1985, the district court, Albert W. Coffrin, Chief Judge, denied defendant's motion pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(c) and 56(b) to dismiss plaintiffs' cause of action concerning water pollution. Ouellette v. International Paper Co., 602 F.Supp. 264 (D.Vt.1985). The district court held (i) that the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 U.S.C. Secs. 1251 et seq. authorizes this action involving interstate water pollution claims by owners of property in Vermont against an effluent producer located in New York to be maintained in the courts and under the common law of the State of Vermont, where the alleged injuries occurred; (ii) that neither the Two-Party Agreement nor the Four-Party Agreement entered into by the State of Vermont in settlement of Vermont v. New York, 419 U.S. 955, 95 S.Ct. 246, 42 L.Ed.2d 260 (1974), bars this suit; and (iii) that plaintiffs have alleged sufficient special damages to state a claim for nuisance.

We affirm the order appealed from, essentially for the reasons set forth in Chief Judge Coffrin's thorough opinion, which we adopt in all respects except one. Chief Judge Coffrin distinguished Badgley v. City of New York, 606 F.2d 358 (2d Cir.1979), cert. denied, 447 U.S. 907, 100 S.Ct. 2989, 64 L.Ed.2d 855 (1980), finding that the settlement contract at bar differed "in two important ways"...

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14 cases
  • International Paper Company v. Ouellette
    • United States
    • United States Supreme Court
    • January 21, 1987
    ...sitting in diversity is competent to apply the law of a foreign State, and, therefore, Vermont was a proper forum in this case. P. 500. 776 F.2d 55, affirmed in part, reversed in part, and POWELL, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which REHNQUIST, C.J., and WHITE, O'CONNOR, and SCA......
  • Allied Towing v. Great Eastern Petroleum Corp., Civ. A. No. 85-808-N.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 4th Circuit. United States District Court (Eastern District of Virginia)
    • August 21, 1986
    ...with this same question found Milwaukee III to be wrongly decided, Ouellette v. International Paper Co., 602 F.Supp. 264, aff'd, 776 F.2d 55 (2d Cir.1985) and the Supreme Court has granted certiorari to resolve this split among the Circuits, ___ U.S. ___, 106 S.Ct. 1457, 89 L.Ed.2d 715 In t......
  • Washington Suburban Sanitary Com'n v. CAE-Link Corp., CAE-LINK
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Maryland
    • September 1, 1992
    ...law of the state in which the injury occurred. 602 F.Supp. 264 (D.Vt.1985). The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed. 776 F.2d 55 (2d Cir.1985). After analyzing the Act's regulatory framework and legislative history, the Supreme Court rejected the argument that the savings claus......
  • In re Horizon
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)
    • February 24, 2014
    ...from a neighboring state. Compare Illinois v. City of Milwaukee, 731 F.2d 403, 410–11 (7th Cir.1984), with Ouellette v. Int'l Paper Co., 776 F.2d 55, 55–56 (2d Cir.1985). The Court explained that federal common law had, until 1971, governed “the use and misuse of interstate waters,” and the......
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1 books & journal articles
  • State and Regional Control of Geological Carbon Sequestration (Part I)
    • United States
    • Environmental Law Reporter No. 41-4, April 2011
    • April 1, 2011
    ...§§2701-2761, ELR Stat. OPA §§1001-7001. 267. Int’l Paper Co. v. Ouellette, 602 F. Supp. 264, 269, 15 ELR 20377 (D. Vt. 1985), af’d , 776 F.2d 55, 16 ELR 20012 (2d Cir. 1985), af’d , 479 U.S. 481, 17 ELR 20327 (1987). 268. Milwaukee v. Illinois, 451 U.S. 304, 11 ELR 20406 (1981); Middlesex C......

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