Wisconsin Resources Protection Counsel v. Flambeau Mining Co.

Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Clean Water Act
Citation
Case Number: 
Nos. 12-2969 & 12-3434 Cons.
Decision Date: 
August 15, 2013
Federal District: 
W.D. Wisc.
Holding: 
Reversed
In action alleging that defendant violated Clean Water Act by discharging pollutants without appropriate permit, Dist. Ct. erred in finding that defendant was not protected by Act’s permit shield provision where Wisc. state agency authorized by EPA to administer provisions of Act had issued defendant mining permit that covered said discharges at issue in instant lawsuit. While plaintiffs argued that issuance of mining permit was insufficient to shield defendant where EPA had not specifically approved of mining permit to cover instant discharges, defendant was entitled to said shield since state agency did not provide defendant with notice that mining permit might not be valid for allowing discharges at issue in instant lawsuit.