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Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians et al v. Burnette Foods, Incorporated

  1. November 13, 2025

    Tribe Scores Early Win Against Michigan Fruit Processor

    A Michigan federal judge has ruled that a fruit-processing company illegally discharged millions of gallons of untreated wastewater into wetlands that feed Michigan's Grand Traverse Bay, granting an early win to a Native American tribe and two local environmental nonprofit groups.

  2. November 05, 2025

    Fruit Co. Must Face Tribe's Pollution Suit, Mich. Judge Rules

    A Michigan federal judge on Tuesday said a fruit and vegetable company can't dodge a Native American tribe and two environmental groups' claims it unlawfully contaminated nearby wetlands with polluted wastewater discharges.

  3. April 29, 2024

    Fruit Co. Must Face Pollution Suit From Tribe, Enviro Groups

    A Michigan federal judge has ruled a fruit and vegetable company can't escape claims it unlawfully contaminated nearby wetlands with polluted wastewater discharges, saying the company's defense essentially ignores the primary theory of liability put forward by a Native American tribe and two environmental groups. 

  4. August 28, 2023

    Mich. Tribe Says Fruit Co. Must Face CWA Claims

    A Native American tribe and two environmental groups say a Michigan fruit-processing company must face their Clean Water Act claims for its excessive wastewater discharges that are overwhelming a series of fields and fouling adjacent wetlands that form a creek running to Elk Lake, even in light of a recent Supreme Court ruling that narrowed the law's scope.

  5. July 24, 2023

    Fruit Co. Says Tribe's CWA Claims Should Be Tossed

    Burnette Foods Inc. is asking a Michigan federal court to throw out claims from a Native American tribe and two environmental groups alleging the company illegally discharged wastewater into wetlands, saying they have failed to show the company has violated federal law.

  6. June 08, 2023

    Tribe, Green Groups Say Fruit Company Is Polluting Wetlands

    A Native American tribe accuses a Michigan fruit-processing company of polluting a local waterway in a suit filed in Michigan federal court Wednesday, saying unacceptable levels of E. coli bacteria and arsenic have been found downstream from the plant.