This summer, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York examined the government’s burden to obtain a preliminary injunction pursuant to the Clean Water Act when a property owner claimed a farming exemption from permitting requirements. In another matter, the court determined that the defendant carries the burden of proof to show he is incompetent to stand trial when his competency has been called into doubt.
The Clean Water Act
In United States v. Acquest Transit LLC, 2009 WL 2157005 (W.D.N.Y. July 15, 2009), District Court Judge William M. Skretney granted the government’s motion for a preliminary injunction barring defendant from placing additional fill or performing any additional earthmoving work on defendant’s property after defendant discharged dredged spoil, rock, sand and dirt (which are within the Clean Water Act’s definition of “pollutant”) into regulable wetlands without a permit.
