Scheufler v. General Host Corp.

BRISCOE, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiffs, a group of landowners and tenant farmers in Rice County, Kansas, filed this trespass and private nuisance action against defendant General Host Corporation (General Host), alleging General Host’s salt mining operations polluted a fresh water aquifer underlying plaintiffs’ properties and prevented plaintiffs from raising irrigated crops on their land. Plaintiffs filed their action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1), alleging diversity jurisdiction. A jury returned a verdict in plaintiffs’ favor on then-private nuisance claims and, following the verdict, the…