Legal Environment of Business 8th Edition by Henry Cheeseman

Exercise 2

Clean Water Act The Reserve Mining Company (Reserve) owned and operated a mine in Minnesota that was located on the shores of Lake Superior and produced hazardous waste. Reserve obtained a permit from the state of Minnesota to dump its wastes into Lake Superior. The permits prohibited discharges that would "result in any clouding or discoloration of the water outside the specific discharge zone" or "result in any material adverse affects on public water supplies." Reserve discharged its wastes into Lake Superior for years. Evidence showed that the discharges caused discoloration of surface waters outside the zone of discharge and contained carcinogens that adversely affected public water supplies. The United States sued Reserve for engaging in unlawful water pollution. Who wins? United States v. Reserve Mining Company , 543 F.2d 1210, Web 1976 U.S. App. Lexis 6503 (United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit)