Guthrie v. Alabama By-Products Company

No. 71-2498 (5th Cir. March 28, 1972)

District court dismissal for lack of jurisdiction of a suit alleging injury to riparian rights by upstream industrial polluters is affirmed, because the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 does not create a federal cause of action to protect a private right unrelated to navigation or anchorage. District court opinion is reported at 1 ELR 20334.

Before THORNBERRY, COLEMAN and INGRAHAM, Circuit Judges.

[2 ELR 20151]

PER CURIAM:

This is an appeal from the judgment of the district court dismissing appellants' complaint for want of federal question or diversity jurisdiction. Appellants primarily complain of the district court's holding that a private civil action brought by individuals damaged by defendants' polluting certain streams and rivers did not state a federal right of action or supply federal question jurisdiction pursuant to the Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act of 1899, 33 U.S.C.A. § 407, unless defendants' conduct constituted an interference with navigation by which plaintiffs were injured. We AFFIRM on the basis of the district court's well-reasoned opinion, reported at 328 F. Supp. 1140.

AFFIRMED