New Hampshire

On September 16, in New Hampshire v. Hess, the Merrimack County Superior Court in New Hampshire dismissed the State's public nuisance claim against various suppliers, refiners and manufacturers of MTBE for failure to state a claim.  (Order) 

Citing, among other precedent, the Rhode Island Supreme Court's rejection of a public nuisance claim against lead pigment manufacturers, Rhode Island v. Lead Industries Association, 951 A.2d 428, 450 (R.I. 2008), the New Hampshire Superior Court ruled that, to hold a defendant liable for public nuisance under New Hampshire law, the defendant (as the Rhode Supreme Court concluded under Rhode Island law) must have control over the alleged nuisance at the time of the damage.  See Hess at 13 ("[T]he Court is not persuaded by the State's argument that control is not an element in New Hampshire public nuisance law.... To seek to hold defendants liable on a public nuisance claim absent sufficient control of the product at issue would be to extend nuisance law beyond its limits as recognized in this jurisdiction.")