J.H. Borland, Sr. v. Sanders Lead Co.

369 So. 2d 523 (1979)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
J
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

J.H. Borland, Sr. v. Sanders Lead Co.

Alabama Supreme Court
369 So. 2d 523 (1979)

  • Written by Lauren Petersen, JD

Facts

J.H. Borland, Sr., and Sarah Borland (plaintiffs) owned 159 acres of land on which they raised cattle and crops and cultivated a pecan orchard. The Sanders Lead Company (Sanders Lead) (defendant) operated a smelter on a nearby property. Sanders Lead used the smelter to melt down used car batteries in order to recover lead. Sanders Lead filtered the smoke from the smelter in compliance with the Alabama Air Pollution Control Act. However, the filtered smoke still carried some lead particulates and sulfoxide gases into the atmosphere, and additionally the filtration system had malfunctioned and burned down on two occasions. The Borlands sued Sanders Lead for trespass, alleging that the smelter’s smoke deposited lead particulates and sulfoxide on their land, rendering the land unsuitable for raising cattle or food. The trial court found in favor of Sanders Lead. It reasoned that Sanders Lead could not be held liable for pollution because it had complied with Alabama’s pollution law. The Borlands appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Jones, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 806,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 806,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 806,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Environmental Law
Torts

Key Terms

Related Videos