## Facts

- The City of Martin constructed a sewage lagoon in 1969 to process raw sewage with minimal odor.
- For roughly two to three years, the lagoon operated without objectionable odors.
- The lagoon later developed a thick floating scum of raw sewage that produced severe odors, making nearby habitation nearly impossible.
- Evidence showed the odor condition could be corrected by adding enzymes and by consistently churning or scattering the surface scum to promote decomposition.
- The City briefly used a motorboat to churn the scum after complaints but later stopped, despite knowing heat and weather conditions worsened odors.
- Nearby property owners sued, alleging the lagoon’s condition interfered with the use and enjoyment of their land and reduced its value.

## Issues

1. Whether the sewage lagoon, as maintained, constituted a temporary or permanent nuisance.
2. Whether dismissal was proper where plaintiffs did not prove damages under the measure applicable to a temporary nuisance.
3. Whether equitable relief should issue to compel abatement of an ongoing, remediable nuisance.

## Decision

- The court held the lagoon, as maintained, constituted a nuisance.
- The nuisance was temporary, not permanent, because it could be corrected through labor or expense (e.g., enzymes and churning).
- The court rejected market-value diminution as the damages measure for this nuisance and remanded for additional proof of temporary-nuisance damages.
- The court ordered injunctive relief requiring the City to abate the nuisance, concluding that denying an injunction was error given the severity and remediability of the condition.

## Legal Principles

- A nuisance is temporary when the offensive condition can be corrected by the expenditure of labor or money; it is permanent when not reasonably subject to correction.
- For a temporary nuisance, damages are measured by impairment of use and enjoyment during the nuisance period, not by permanent diminution in fair market value.
- When a continuing temporary nuisance substantially interferes with property rights and is reasonably abatable, injunctive relief is appropriate to compel corrective action, including against a municipal operator.

## Conclusion

The court classified the sewage lagoon odors as a temporary nuisance because the condition was correctable through reasonable measures, required damages to be proven as loss of use and enjoyment rather than diminished market value, and mandated an injunction to abate the ongoing nuisance while remanding for further proof of temporary-nuisance damages.


Pate v. City of Martin, 614 S.W.2d 46 (Tenn. 1981)