Jones v. City of Lakeland, Tennessee

The City of Lakeland (city) (defendant) had been discharging contaminated and untreated sewage and other hazardous substances into Oliver Creek for many years. The State of Tennessee (state), through the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, had initiated an action to enforce the requirements of the city’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. Despite the state enforcement action, the city continued to discharge impermissible amounts of sewage and other toxic substances into Oliver Creek. During this pendency of the enforcement action, the state waived countless NPDES violation notices and extended and waived compliance deadlines in numerous instances, imposing only token penalties. Ten years after the filing of the state’s enforcement action, Rudolph Jones (plaintiff) brought an action against the city, alleging that the city’s discharges in violation of the permit persisted. The district court ruled that Jones was barred from pursuing the action because the city was diligently prosecuting an action to require compliance. Four orders had been entered into between the city and the state, the last of which required the city to come into full compliance with its NPDES permit. The last order also required the payment of a fine. Although the Sixth Circuit initially affirmed the district court’s decision, it voted to rehear the case en banc.