Nuisance victim awarded cost of restoration damages without any need to prove diminution in value of the property

When an oil tanker overturned in a traffic circle, spilled 9,000 gallons of oil and kerosene into a culvert, property owners who were affected were allowed to sue for the cost of restoring their properties because of the physical harm to them without any need to show that the contamination diminished the market value of their land. West v. Jewett & Noonan Transp., Inc., 189 A.3d 277 (Me. 2018).

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court held that a nuisance claim must prove diminution in value of the land when the nuisance only involves physical discomfort or mental annoyance. When the nuisance physically affects the land, restoration damages can be awarded without proof of diminution in the fair market value of the land.

 

See also: Nuisance