Abstract
Stigma is a common issue in property damage suits involving hazardous waste sites. Although properties may have suffered no physical damage, the claim is that public perception of health risks has placed a stigma on the properties that reduces or eliminates their value. The issues raised by stigma claims, traditional common-law rules and current case law, and the trends regarding stigma claims are explored in light of environmental liability cases. Most stigma damages are rooted in nuisance. There is perhaps no greater intermingling and confusion in the law than that which surrounds the word nuisance. A private nuisance is a non-trespassory invasion of someone else's private interest in the use and enjoyment of land. Courts have dealt with stigma claims that are not congruent with the traditional nuisance or trespass claim approach in Walker Drug Co. v. La Sal Oil Co., Adkins v. Thomas Solvent Co., and other cases.