Belanger v. Commonwealth

The plaintiffs are the owners of riverfront property adjacent to the Powwow River in the town of Ames-bury (town). They brought this common law nuisance action against the town and the Commonwealth, alleging that their land was artificially flooded as a result of the town’s failure to adjust, remove, or replace a dam-like structure on the river, known as the Newtown Road weir, and to maintain and control properly the Lake Gardner Dam and several other, less significant water control structures along the river. They claim that the conditions created by the town constitute a nuisance.

The…