Benham v. Ozark Materials River Rock, LLC
Opinion
Defendant-Appellant Ozark Materials River Rock, LLC, appeals from the district court's order approving Plaintiff-Appellee David Benham's proposed restoration plan of unlawfully filled wetlands in Saline Creek,
Benham v. Ozark Materials River Rock, LLC
(
Benham II
), No. 11-CV-339-JED-FHM (N.D. Okla. June 1, 2017), ECF No. 184. Ozark raises several issues on appeal challenging the district court's order and underlying findings of fact and conclusions of law,
Benham v. Ozark Materials River Rock, LLC
(
Benham I
), No. 11-CV-339-JED-FHM,
Background
This appeal arises from a private enforcement action under Section 505 of the
*1272
Clean Water Act (CWA),
The Army Corps of Engineers had inspected Ozark's operations in 2010 (and would do so again in 2012 and 2013) by driving through the property, but it found no CWA violations. Nevertheless, after receiving Mr. Benham's notice, Ozark hired an environmental consulting firm to perform a Section 404 impact analysis of Ozark's Saline Creek operations. By June 1, 2011, Ozark had not addressed the CWA violations that Mr. Benham alleged in his notice, so he filed the instant citizen suit, as authorized by Section 505.
The district court held a bench trial and issued findings of fact and conclusions of law determining that Ozark violated Section 404 by disturbing more than one-half acre of wetland through the discharge of dredge and fill material.
Benham I
,
Discussion
Ozark raises six issues on appeal, contending that (1) Mr. Benham lacks Article III standing, (2) Mr. Benham's citizen suit notice letter was inadequate, (3) the district court erroneously found that Ozark violated the CWA, (4) the district court erroneously admitted evidence prepared by Ozark's withdrawn expert, (5) the district court's order is unconstitutional, and (6) Mr. Benham's suit falls within the primary jurisdiction of the Army Corps of Engineers. For the following reasons, we reject Ozark's arguments and affirm.
A. Mr. Benham Has Article III Standing
Whether a plaintiff has Article III standing is a jurisdictional question that we review de novo.
Wilderness Soc'y v. Kane County
,
*1273
Lujan v. Defs. of Wildlife
,
"[E]nvironmental plaintiffs adequately allege injury in fact when they aver that they use the affected area and are persons 'for whom the aesthetic and recreational values of the area will be lessened' by the challenged activity."
Laidlaw
,
To satisfy the traceability requirement, the defendant's conduct must have caused the injury.
Lujan
,
Finally, the redressability element is handily met: the injunctive relief and civil penalties sought by Mr. Benham and ordered by the district court will restore the unlawfully filled wetlands and deter future violations.
See
Laidlaw
,
B. Mr. Benham's Citizen Suit Notice Letter Was Adequate
Under Section 505 of the CWA, a plaintiff must provide notice of a violation before commencing a citizen suit.
In relevant part, Mr. Benham's notice provided:
Discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States may *1274 only occur if permitted by the Army Corps of Engineers (herein the "ACOE").33 U.S.C. § 1311 (a) ;33 U.S.C. § 1344 (a). Waters of the United States, as defined in section 404, includes wetlands, which are areas "inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions."33 C.F.R. § 328.3 (b) ; see also U.S. v. Riverside Bayview Homes ,474 U.S. 121 , 131-32 & n.8, [106 S.Ct. 455 ,88 L.Ed.2d 419 ] (1985). Saline Creek is surrounded by wetlands. A significant portion of your mining operations have both dredged and filled these designated wetlands. See Attachment 2. The ACOE has no record of you being issued a section 404 permit for these dredge and fill activities.
Any action which results in the filling of waters of the United States, including wetlands such as the ones you have filled, must be permitted through the ACOE. 33 U.S.C. [§] 1311(a) ; 33 U.S.C. [§] 1342. You have violated this section by placing large amounts of dirt, sand, and gravel into the center of Saline Creek without a permit in order to form a more convenient access road for [your] trucks. This road stretches underneath the S 4437 road and connects land owned by the Grand River Dam Authority with land owned by you. The attached photograph shows you filling this wetland on September 14, 2006. See Attachment 3. The location of your illegal discharges of fill material is identified on the attached air photo at approximately the point labeled "l." See Attachment 2.
1 Aplee. Supp. App. 19. The notice describes the specific pollutants (dirt, sand, and gravel), specific locations (a road identified by description and aerial photograph), the specific sections of the CWA that were violated (
Ozark also contends that the district court erred by allowing Mr. Benham to prosecute claims that were not identified in his notice. But Mr. Benham's notice specifically mentions the road created within Saline Creek. Accordingly, the district court's determination that Mr. Benham's "allegations regarding the roadway within Saline Creek and the filling of its surrounding wetlands are within the scope of the Notice Letter,"
Benham I
,
C. The District Court Did Not Clearly Err by Finding That Ozark Violated the CWA
We review the district court's legal conclusions de novo and its factual findings for clear error, giving great deference to credibility determinations.
Raytheon Aircraft Co. v. United States
,
*1275
After a bench trial, the district court found that the testimony of Mr. Benham's expert witness and the records regarding the existence of filled wetlands "establish that the half-acre threshold for filled wetlands requiring an individual permit has been surpassed" and that "Ozark has discharged dredge and fill materials into Saline Creek in excess of one-half of an acre without an individual permit as required under the CWA."
Benham I
,
The district court then concluded that "Ozark's deposition of dredge and fill material in excess of ... one-half acre ... constitutes a continuing violation of Section 404 of the CWA that renders Ozark subject to liability."
Id.
at *9. It determined that Ozark's violation was "continuing" based on the premise that "[u]ntil a pollutant, such as fill material, that has been placed in a wetland is removed, its presence constitutes a continuing violation."
1
Id.
at *8 (citing
Sasser v. Adm'r, U.S. EPA
,
D. The District Court Did Not Abuse Its Discretion by Admitting Evidence Prepared by Ozark's Withdrawn Expert
We review a district court's admission of evidence for abuse of discretion.
Prager v. Campbell Cty. Mem'l Hosp.
,
Ozark's reliance on Rule 26 as a means of excluding expert material is misplaced. Rule 26(b)(4)(C) and (D) protect against the disclosure of attorney communications with testifying experts and facts known and opinions held by nontestifying experts, respectively. But while they protect against the
discovery
of this expert material, they have nothing to do with the
admissibility
of already-disclosed material. Mr. Benham states that he acquired the Enercon documents through an unopposed subpoena on August 19, 2012. If the documents contained attorney-expert communications, a Rule 26(b)(4)(C) objection would have been appropriate at that time. And had Ozark withdrawn its expert before the subpoena, a Rule 26(b)(4)(D) objection would also have been well founded. Nearly two years after disclosure, though, Rule 26(b)(4) provides no protection against admitting the documents as evidence at trial-even if Ozark no longer planned to call its expert as a witness.
Cf.
SEC v. Koenig
,
Additionally, Ozark has waived its hearsay argument by inadequately briefing the issue. Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 28(a)(8)(A) requires an argument to contain "appellant's contentions and the reasons for them, with citations to the authorities and parts of the record on which the appellant relies." Ozark's brief mentions that the district court admitted the documents over Ozark's hearsay objection but offers no explanation for why this was erroneous. As a result, Ozark has waived its argument that the documents were inadmissible hearsay,
see
SCO Grp., Inc. v. Novell, Inc.
,
E. Ozark Forfeited Its Constitutional Arguments
For the first time on appeal, Ozark argues that the district court's order of a conservation easement violates the Due Process and Takings Clauses of the Fifth Amendment. As Ozark did not raise this theory before the district court,
2
the theory was forfeited and our review of the district court's order is for plain error.
See
Richison v. Ernest Grp., Inc.
,
*1277
marks the end of the road for an argument for reversal not first presented to the district court."
F. The District Court Did Not Abuse Its Discretion by Not Invoking the Primary Jurisdiction Doctrine
We review a district court's decision to invoke the primary jurisdiction doctrine for abuse of discretion.
TON Servs., Inc. v. Qwest Corp.
,
Though framed as a primary jurisdiction issue, the essence of Ozark's argument is that Mr. Benham should be prohibited from bringing his citizen suit because the Army Corps of Engineers is primarily responsible for the enforcement of the CWA. While it is true that Section 505 would prohibit Mr. Benham's suit if the Corps were "diligently prosecuting" an enforcement action,
see
For the first time on appeal, Ozark argues that the CWA violation in the instant case covers the same set of facts as a 2005 violation. As an action for a "wholly past" violation would deprive the court of subject matter jurisdiction,
see
Gwaltney
,
Ozark also attempts to frame its primary jurisdiction argument as a ripeness issue, contending that the Army Corps of Engineers has not made a final agency determination regarding the delineation of wetlands in Saline Creek. But Mr. Benham is not an "affected party" subject to the Corps's exhaustion of administrative remedies provision.
See
In sum, the district court had jurisdiction over Mr. Benham's citizen suit, and invoking the primary jurisdiction doctrine would not have been appropriate.
AFFIRMED.
Language from Justice Scalia's concurrence in
Gwaltney of Smithfield, Ltd. v. Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Inc.
,
Ozark had the opportunity to raise this argument in its objection to Mr. Benham's proposed mitigation plan, Benham v. Ozark Materials River Rock, LLC , No. 11-CV-339-JED-FHM (N.D. Okla. Dec. 29, 2016), ECF No. 180, and its objection to Mr. Benham's supplement to his proposed mitigation plan, Benham v. Ozark Materials River Rock, LLC , No. 11-CV-339-JED-FHM (N.D. Okla. Jan. 26, 2017), ECF No. 183-but did not.
At oral argument, the parties were uncertain of the conservation easement's duration. Our disposition does not prevent the parties from seeking clarification from the district court on this issue.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- David BENHAM, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. OZARK MATERIALS RIVER ROCK, LLC, Defendant-Appellant.
- Cited By
- 26 cases
- Status
- Published