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Mitigating the Incidence and Severity of Injuries and Other Harms

Hayden v. Maryland Department of Natural Resources

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Overview

Hayden v. Maryland Department of Natural Resources (Maryland Court of Special Appeals, Sept. 3, 2019): The Maryland Court of Special Appeals upheld a ruling that an oyster harvester violated state food safety laws by removing oysters in the Chesapeake Bay from an area that had been closed due to pollution. While the court focused on the statutory language, it noted that the Maryland Department of the Environment is “authorized to close areas of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries to oyster harvesting when [it] determines that those areas are polluted and that the shellfish from the polluted areas are hazardous to public health.” The harvester testified that he knew the area had been closed due to pollution, but planned to let the oysters “‘filter[] out’ for several weeks” before selling them. Consequently, the court affirmed the revocation of his oyster harvesting license. Read the decision here.

View all cases in the Judicial Trends in Public Health – December 13, 2019.

View all cases under “Mitigating the Incidence & Severity of Injuries & Other Harms.”