657.1 Nuisance — what constitutes — action to abate — electric utility defense.

1. Whatever is injurious to health, indecent, or unreasonably offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property, so as essentially to interfere unreasonably with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property, is a nuisance, and a civil action by ordinary proceedings may be brought to enjoin and abate the nuisance and to recover damages sustained on account of the nuisance. A petition filed under this subsection shall include the legal description of the real property upon which the nuisance is located unless the nuisance is not situated on or confined to a parcel of real property or is portable or capable of being removed from the real property.

2. Notwithstanding subsection 1, in an action to abate a nuisance against an electric utility, an electric utility may assert a defense of comparative fault as set out in section 668.3 if the electric utility demonstrates that in the course of providing electric services to its customers it has complied with engineering and safety standards as adopted by the utilities board of the department of commerce, and if the electric utility has secured all permits and approvals, as required by state law and local ordinances, necessary to perform activities alleged to constitute a nuisance.

[C51, §2131 – 2133; R60, §3713 – 3715; C73, §3331; C97, §4302; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §12395; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §657.1]

95 Acts, ch 195, §34; 2004 Acts, ch 1077, §1; 2005 Acts, ch 3, §108; 2010 Acts, ch 1050, §8