United States v. Reserve Mining Co.

56 F.R.D. 408, 4 ERC 1321, 2 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20578, 16 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 272, 4 ERC (BNA) 1321, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13229
CourtDistrict Court, D. Minnesota
DecidedJune 15, 1972
DocketNo. 5-72 Civ. 19
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 56 F.R.D. 408 (United States v. Reserve Mining Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Reserve Mining Co., 56 F.R.D. 408, 4 ERC 1321, 2 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20578, 16 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 272, 4 ERC (BNA) 1321, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13229 (mnd 1972).

Opinion

ORDER

MILES W. LORD, District Judge.

- The Court has before it some 15 motions for intervention in this lawsuit. There are 4 applications for intervention as plaintiffs by (1) the State of Wisconsin; (2) the State of Michigan; (3) the Minnesota Environmental Law Institute, Inc., Northern Environmental Council, and Save Lake Superior Association; and (4) the Michigan Student Environmental Confederation, Inc. There are 11 applications for intervention as defendants by (1) Lake County; (2) St. Louis County; (3) the Village of Babbitt; (4) the Village of Silver Bay; (5) the Village of Beaver Bay; (6) the Town of Beaver Bay; (7) the Lax Lake Property Owners Association; (8) the Northeastern Minnesota Development Association; (9) the Range Municipalities & Civic Association; (10) the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce; and (11) the Silver Bay Chamber of Commerce.

The State of Wisconsin is seeking to intervene under Rule 24(b)(2), which sets out the requirements of permissive intervention. The State of Michigan is seeking to intervene both as a matter of right under Rule 24(a)(2) and permissively under Rule 24(b)(2). The environmental groups seek to intervene only as a matter of right under Rule 24(a)(2). The applicants seeking to intervene as defendants are moving for intervention under both Rule 24(a)(2) and (b)(2).

Rule 24(a)(2), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, provides that:

Upon timely application anyone shall be permitted to intervene in an action: (1) when a statute of the United States confers an unconditional right to intervene; or (2) when the applicant claims an interest relating to the property or transaction which is the subject of the action and he is so situated that the disposition of the action may as a practical matter impair or impede his ability to protect that interest, unless the applicant’s interest is adequately represented by existing parties.

Since there is no statute of the United States conferring an unconditional right to intervene on the applicants, the applicants seeking to intervene as of right must rely on part (2) of Rule 24(a). Before intervention as of right will be established under the rule, certain requirements must be met: first, the applicant must claim an interest relating to the property or transaction that is the subject of the action and second, the applicant must be situated such that the disposition of the action may, as a practical matter, impair or impede his ability to protect that interest. If these requirements are met, intervention will be established unless it can be shown that the applicant’s interest is adequately represented by existing parties.

Rule 24(b)(2), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, provides that:

Upon timely application anyone may be permitted to intervene in an action: ... (2) when an applicant’s claim or defense and the main action have a question of law or fact in common. When a party to an action relies for ground of claim or defense upon any statute or executive order administered by a federal or state governmental officer or agency or upon any regulation, order, requirement, or agreement issued or made pursuant to the statute or executive order, the officer or agency upon timely application may be permitted to intervene in the action. In exercis[412]*412ing its discretion the court shall consider whether the intervention will unduly delay or prejudice the adjudication of the rights of the original parties.

The prerequisites to permissive intervention are, therefore, that the applicant’s claim or defense have a common question of law or fact with the main action. Beyond this, allowance of intervention is within the discretion of the court, giving consideration to equitable principles of delay or prejudice of the case.

With the pertinent provisions of Rule 24 in mind, the Court will now consider the applications for intervention.

I. Applications for Intervention as Defendants

Because of the similarities in the proposed answers filed by these applicants, their motions for intervention will be considered together.

A. The Applicants must claim an interest relating to the property or transaction which is the subject matter of the action

The answers filed by the applicants indicate that they have various economic interests which are inextricably intertwined with the fate of Reserve Mining Company. To illustrate, according to the answers filed by the applicants, there are approximately 11,000 people in northeastern Minnesota who are employed either directly by Reserve Mining Company or indirectly by various area businesses and industries supporting Reserve Mining Company. Many of these people live in the villages of Silver Bay, Babbitt, Beaver Bay, and the town of Beaver Bay, and thus in St. Louis and Lake Counties. The individuals employed by Reserve Mining Company and supporting businesses and the families of those individuals are dependent upon these businesses for their livelihood. The local agencies of government are dependent upon both the individuals and Reserve Mining Company and supporting businesses for tax revenues necessary to maintain the efficient operation of local government. The other businesses are also dependent for their continued operation, in part, upon the continued operation of Reserve Mining Company. The disposition of this litigation could, therefore, have a substantial impact on local agencies of government in the area, individuals in the area, and industry and business in the area.

The question, as it appears to this Court, is whether the economic interest asserted by the applicants in their answers is a sufficient interest within the meaning of Rule 24(a)(2). This in turn depends on the construction to be given to Rule 24(a)(2). As stated by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia:

We know of no concise yet comprehensive definition of what constitutes a litigable ‘interest’ for purposes of standing and intervention under Rule 24(a). One court has recently reverted to the narrow formulation that ‘interest’ means ‘a specific legal or equitable interest in the chose’. Toles v. United States, 371 F.2d 784 (10th Cir. 1967). We think a more instructive approach is to let our construction be guided by the policies behind the ‘interest’ requirement. We know from the recent amendments to the civil rules that in the intervention area the ‘interest’ test is primarily a practical guide to disposing of lawsuits by involving as many apparently concerned persons as is compatible with efficiency and due process .

Nuesse v. Camp, 128 U.S.App.D.C. 172, 385 F.2d 694, 700 (1967).

Viewing the rule in this manner serves as an indication that the “interest” requirement of Rule 24(a)(2) should be viewed as a prerequisite to intervention, rather than a determinative criterion. Smuck v. Hobson, 132 U.S.App.D.C. 372, 408 F.2d 175, 197 (1969).

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56 F.R.D. 408, 4 ERC 1321, 2 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20578, 16 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 272, 4 ERC (BNA) 1321, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13229, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-reserve-mining-co-mnd-1972.