How far will your municipality go to make your neighborhood healthier and quieter? Will police be dispatched to deal with unruly neighbors, or are you on your own? While most municipalities will address residential disputes, such as homeowner against homeowner, they may be much less willing to make businesses behave neighborly.

After all, businesses pay a lot in taxes, and often they represent political muscle. If a municipality bothers a business too much, the business may move to the next town, where they are more "business friendly (they can do anything and not get yelled at)." And elected officials do not want to be responsible for lost jobs or lost tax ratables. That's why St. Paul's recent response to an allegedly un-neighborly brewery, one that employs around 200 people, was noteworthy.

St. Paul officials recently began legal action against an allegedly vile ethanol production company, which operated within an existing brewery. The company has been given 30 days to cleanup its act or face a civil lawsuit. And City officials are even talking about criminal action as well.

Though the company has a variety of state environmental permits relating to noise, air emissions, and odors, many people who live nearby have complained that it stinks the air, releases pollutants, and is very loud.

On February 7, the City issued a 37 page Final Report concerning the facility. By law, St. Paul must issue such a report before it begins legal proceedings. And, it would seem that St. Paul really tried to do a thorough job in preparing this report. Although, I suspect that the business's owners and lawyers would disagree with this assessment of the report.

According to the official report, the property has been the site of brewing operations since 1855. Recently, the brewery decided to increase revenues by producing ethanol, which is a fuel, in addition to beer. I guess the two products have a lot in common! The company also decided to recover some of the carbon dioxide that is produced during operations and sell it as well.

In mid-2000, local residents began complaining the factory was producing foul odors, air pollutants, and that it was too loud. Some even complained of a variety of physical ailments, ranging from skin irritations to asthma. It is not uncommon for people to claim that pollutants cause these kinds of physical symptoms.

The City reacted quickly (many would not react this quickly). Within a few short months, the matter was referred to the City Attorney's office, and legal action was taken shortly thereafter. The City has even paid for outside consultants to assist it in evaluating the problem.

These experts evaluated many facets of the problem and their finding are included in the report. One air permitting expert identified ten different alleged air pollution permit violations during two inspections. While some seemed to be minor violations, others appeared to be relatively significant. The City also hired its own noise expert. Like most municipalities, St. Paul has published noise limits, some for day hours, others for night hours. The expert measured noise levels and documented several alleged noise violations from the plant as well. In other words, the experts appeared to confirm that the plant constitutes a public nuisance.

St. Paul has threatened to file a civil lawsuit against the plant's operator, alleging that the plant is a public nuisance which violates various local and state laws. Criminal charges are also being publicly considered as well.

In short, the City has come to the aid of the community with remarkably quick speed, just a matter of months. And it did so in a manner that seemed appropriately calculated and reasonable. St. Paul has demonstrated that it is by no means afraid to take enforcement measures against a local company, even if it is employing a good number of people. There are important laws and health concerns at issue which are being addressed.

Of course, we do not know whether the allegations against the company are true. Scientists, lawyers and judges will have to decide. But we do know that St. Paul did not ignore complaints by a community of people who were fearful for their health and well being. Would your municipality act as quickly and effectively?

The information provided in this column is written by Stuart Lieberman,a practicing environmental attorney, and is for general information purposes only. It is not legal advice and should not be used in place of legal advice.

Stuart Lieberman, Esq., and IRED.Com, Inc., will not accept any responsibilty for any reliance on the information in this column or any damages whatsoever resulting from reading this column.