Wanamaker v. Benzon

Citations

• 63 Pa. Super. 401
• 1916 Pa. Super. LEXIS 176

Syllabus

<p>Sewers — Covered stream — Dedication—Borough—Pollution of waters — Injunction—Equity—Laches—Remedy at law.</p> <p>Where the owners of a building operation lay out a tract of land in building lots and streets, construct a culvert or stone covering over a stream, run a street along the same course as the stream naturally took, dedicate this street to a borough, and the borough accepts the street, the fact that the borough subsequently makes several openings in tbe covered drain for the purpose of drainage, does not indicate that the borough adopted the drain as a borough sewer so as to make the borough liable to a lower riparian owner for tbe pollution of the stream by offensive sewage cast into it by individual lot owners.</p> <p>In such a case the lower riparian owners may maintain a bill in equity against- the individual lot owners for an injunction to restrain the further pollution of the stream; and they are not barred by laches because they delayed for several years in asserting their right; nor is the court’s jurisdiction ousted because the State Health Commission had directed the borough to build a sewer across the plaintiff’s land for general drainage, where there is nothing to show that such order had ever been put into execution by the borough. The plaintiffs in such a situation have no adequate remedy at law, and are entitled to an injunction to prevent the further pollution of the stream.</p>