Boomer v. Atlantic Cement Co.

Facts

Atlantic Cement Company operated a large cement plant near Albany. Boomer and other neighboring landowners sued the company. They said dirt, smoke and vibration from the plant injured their property. They asked for an injunction (a court order to stop the harm) and for money damages. After trial, the court found that the plant was a nuisance and that it had substantially damaged the plaintiffs' properties. It awarded damages for harm up to the time of trial. But the court denied an injunction, relying on the large gap between the economic harm to the plaintiffs and the economic consequences of an injunction. The total damage to the plaintiffs' properties was relatively small compared with the value of the plant's operation. A footnote states that the company's investment in the plant exceeded $45,000,000 and that over 300 people worked there. The trial court also found the amount of permanent damage attributable to each plaintiff, for the parties' guidance if both sides agreed to accept it as a settlement. The total was $185,000. The parties never agreed to it. Without an injunction, the plaintiffs could keep bringing new suits at law for damages as more harm occurred.

Issues

1. When a court finds a nuisance that substantially damages neighboring landowners, may it deny an injunction because the economic harm from the nuisance is small next to the economic consequences of closing the plant?
2. May the court instead grant the injunction on the condition that it will be vacated if the plant owner pays permanent damages that compensate the neighbors for their present and future loss?

Holding

The injunction could not simply be denied. Because the plaintiffs suffered substantial damage from a nuisance, the court remitted the cases for the trial court to grant an injunction that will be vacated if Atlantic Cement pays permanent damages, set by the trial court, as compensation for a servitude (a burden) on the plaintiffs' land.