Meeker v. City of East Orange
New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals
74 A. 379 (1909)
- Written by Rose VanHofwegen, JD
Facts
Frank Meeker (plaintiff) owned a dairy farm with a spring and springhouse used for drinking water and storing milk. His cattle drank from streams flowing from the spring. The City of East Orange, New Jersey (defendant) built a water plant nearby with 20 wells that pumped the underground water that had supplied Meeker’s spring. Meeker sued the city for damages for diverting the groundwater. The trial court entered judgment for the city, reasoning that the city had an absolute right to appropriate all groundwater underneath its land to supply water to East Orange residents, even if doing so dried up Meeker’s spring and made his land unfarmable. After the appellate court affirmed, Meeker appealed to New Jersey’s highest court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Pitney, J.)
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