People v. Buena Vista Mines, Inc

In People v. Buena Vista Mines, Inc. (1998) 60 Cal.App.4th 1198, the court held that the defendant was not entitled to assert necessity as a defense to a felony charge of violating federal water pollution laws. The defense presented evidence that the mining company had pumped acid-contaminated water out of a holding pond into a creek because it feared the holding pond's earthen walls would not hold. The court rejected that argument, noting that the defendant "stored acid-contaminated water in an inadequately sized open pond and had weeks, if not months, to consider alternative courses of conduct." (Id. at p. 1204.)