Suppose it is decided that Whiplash has the legal right to keep throwing trash in the lake because he owns most of it or that the lake is too far away from county enforcement agencies for them to be effective in controlling the behavior that causes the pollution. What can the Smiths do now, if anything

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"The Smith family owns all of the land around 100-acre Dismal Lake. They built a home on the eastern edge of the lake. Life is very pleasant for the first year. Then, unknown to Mama and Papa Smith, the Smith children begin throwing the family garbage in the lake every week because it’s easier than carrying the bags out to the main road for the county trash trucks to pick up. A few months later, the lake begins to stink and Mama and Papa Smith discover where the garbage has been going. The Smith children are now dismal because they have to clean up the lake instead of going out with their friends for the next four weekends.

When the Smith children go off to college, Mr. and Mrs. Smith sell the land around Dismal Lake—except their one-acre homestead—to Snively Whiplash, an unscrupulous land developer. Whiplash builds a home on the western edge of the lake and immediately starts throwing garbage into the lake instead of taking it out to the road for county trash pick-up service.

One year later, Whiplash stops throwing trash in Dismal Lake, subdivides the land around the lake, sells homestead plots to 15 families for $100,000 each, and moves away. The 15 new owners each build large houses on their lots. After a few months, garbage starts to show up in and around Dismal Lake again—this time from at least two families. The Smiths convene a neighborhood meeting to discuss the problem. At the meeting, four of the families accuse five other families of throwing their garbage in the lake. The accused families deny the charges, accuse other families instead, and the meeting breaks up with everyone shouting. Dismal Lake continues to be a smelly, dismal place. "

The Smiths can accuse Whiplash of violating the Clean Water Act.

Explanation:

The Clean Water Act is a federal law, meaning it must be obeyed throughout the national territory. This law protects surface waters, such as rivers, lakes and oceans, from pollution. Like any law, the Clean Water Act establishes punishments for those who believe they have the right to maintain a contaminated body of water.

According to this law, Whiplash has no right to pollute the lake it owns, so if Whiplash refused to clean the lake it polluted, the Smiths could sue it under the Clean Water Act.