Roberts v. Harrison
| Decision Date | 10 July 1897 |
| Citation | 28 S.E. 995,101 Ga. 773 |
| Parties | ROBERTS et al. v. HARRISON. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Nuisance—Abatement.
When, from natural causes only, water accumulates upon land in such quantities as that, in the process of evaporation, noxious and deleterious gases are emitted, which are injurious to the public health, and to the health of persons residing in the community, if the owner has not contributed by his own act to bringing about that result, he cannot be held answerable for the creation or continuance of a nuisance; nor can he be compelled, by order of the magistrates, under section 4760 of the Civil Code, to abate the nuisance resulting from such cause.
(Syllabus, by the Court.)
Error from superior court, Jackson county; N. L. Hutchins, Judge.
Petition of P. J. Roberts and others against W. O. Harrison to abate a nuisance. Judgment of a justice for plaintiffs, and defendant brought certiorari. From a judgment sustaining the certiorari, plaintiffs bring error. Affirmed.
E. C. Armistead, for plaintiffs in error.
H. H. Dean, for defendant in error.
SIMMONS, c. J. A petition was filed by Roberts and five others, under section 4760 of the Civil Code, for the removal of a pond of water, which had collected upon the lands of W. O. Harrison. The jury returned a verdict finding the pond a nuisance, and the justices of the peace directed the sheriff or his deputy to enter upon the lands, "and abate the nuisance complained of by removing said pond in the most feasible manner." The defendant carried the case by certiorari to the superior court. There the certiorari was sustained, and the judgment of the justices set aside, on the ground that while, in a sense, the pond complained of is a nuisance, it is not such a legal nuisance as the justices of the peace have jurisdiction to abate. The area of the pond in question varied from time to time, and the water, partially receding, would leave exposed to the sun portions of the land which had been submerged. In the processes of evaporation, and by the decay of large masses of vegetable matter, noxious and deleterious gases were emitted, which were injurious to the public health, and to the health of persons residing in the community. The accumulation of the water was due solely to natural causes, and the defendant did not, by his own act or negligence, contribute to bring about the alleged nuisance. At one time the land had been drained by a ditch which emptied into a creek, but in consequence of the filling in and choking up of either the ditch or the creek, or both, the water accumulated, and formed the pond. The defendant had done nothing to...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Timber - Falling Tree Liability in Georgia
...(1991 & Supp. 2003). 5. Cornett v. Agee, 143 Ga. App. 55, 237 S.E.2d 522 (1977). 6. Id. at 55, 237 S.E.2d at 523. 7. Roberts v. Harrison, 101 Ga. 773, 28 S.E. 995 (1897). 8. Id. at 775, 28 S.E. at 996. 9. Id. 10. Cornett, 143 Ga. App. at 55, 237 S.E.2d at 523. 11. Id. at 56, 237 S.E.2d at 5......