Jost v. Dairyland Power Cooperative
Wisconsin Supreme Court
172 N.W.2d 647 (1969)
Dairyland (defendant) built a coal-burning power plant near Alma, Wisconsin, in 1947, and the sulfur dioxide gas it emitted settled onto neighboring farmland, damaging crops, killing pine trees, rapidly rusting screen doors, and making flower growing difficult. Jost and other affected farmers (plaintiffs) sued in nuisance, and the trial judge, after excluding Dairyland's proposed evidence of its own due care and the plant's broader social and economic utility, entered judgment for the farmers; Dairyland appealed.
Whether, in Wisconsin, a defendant will escape nuisance liability if it exercised due care in its actions, yet was aware its conduct was invading the plaintiff's property, even if the social utility of its actions outweighed the harm caused to the plaintiff.