This Post was authored by Lisa Maeyer, a MGKF summer associate. 

On June 8, 2020, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania affirmed a trial court’s holding that flooding from sewage overflows not resulting from intentional activity on the part of a sanitary authority did not constitute a de facto taking of a landowner’s affected property. In the Matter of: Condemnation by the Franklin Twp. Sewage Auth., No. 1237 C.D. 2019, 2020 WL 3039070 (Pa. Cmwlth. June 8, 2020). In particular, the Court held that because the sewage overflows resulted from the age of the system and infiltration and inflows not caused by any actions of the Franklin Township Municipal Sanitary Authority (the “Authority”), the lower court properly sustained preliminary objections to Plaintiff William Ott’s petition seeking compensation for a de facto taking of his property. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Condemnation, Damages, Eminent Domain, Flooding, Pennsylvania, Property Damage, Property Value, Real Estate, Sovereign Immunity, Stormwater, Takings, Trespass, Water

On December 17, 2019, the Honorable Judge Charles F. Lettow of the United States Court of Federal Claims, issued a 46-page opinion finding the federal government liable for taking a flowage easement on private properties within the Addicks and Barker Reservoirs and upstream of the Addicks and Barker Dams—two federal flood control projects along the gulf coast in Texas.  In re Upstream Addicks & Barker (Texas) Flood-Control Reservoirs, No. 17-9001L, slip op. (Fed. Cl. Dec. 17, 2019).  The decision is the first step for upstream property owners hoping to recover damages for severe flooding caused by Tropical Storm Harvey over two years ago. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Army Corps, Flooding, Takings, Takings Clause

October Term 2012 gets underway at the U.S. Supreme Court this week, and the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause will be front and center in one of the arguments heard by the Court today.  In Arkansas Game & Fish Commission v. United States, No. 11-597, the Justices consider whether government actions that cause recurring flooding on a parcel of land must continue permanently in order to constitute a taking for which the government is obligated to provide just compensation.  The Court’s decision in this case could affect whether a variety of government actions that cause recurring physical invasions of land demand compensation under the U.S. Constitution. Read More »

Share | Email| Comments|  Topics: Arkansas, Cases to Watch, Fifth Amendment, Flooding, Supreme Court, Takings Clause