United States v. Northshore Mining Co. ( 2009 )


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  •                     United States Court of Appeals
    FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT
    ________________
    No. 08-1423
    ________________
    United States of America,               *
    *
    Plaintiff - Appellee,       *
    *
    Minnesota Center for Environmental      *
    Advocacy; State of Wisconsin; Save      *
    Lake Superior Association; State of     *
    Minnesota; Minnesota Pollution          *
    Control Agency,                         *
    *
    Intervenor Plaintiffs -     *
    Appellees,                  *
    *
    United States Environmental             *
    Protection Agency; State of Michigan;   *
    City of Duluth,                         *
    *
    Intervenor Plaintiffs,      *
    *   Appeal from the United States
    v.                                *   District Court for the
    *   District of Minnesota.
    Northshore Mining Company,              *
    *
    Defendant - Appellant,      *
    *
    County of Lake, Minnesota;              *
    Northeastern Minnesota Development      *
    Association; Duluth Area Chamber of     *
    Commerce; Village of Babbitt, Ranger    *
    League of Municipalities and Civil      *
    Associations; Village of Beaver Bay;    *
    St. Louis County; Village of Silver     *
    Bay; City of Superior; United States     *
    Corps of Engineers; City of Two          *
    Harbors; Lax Lake Property Owners        *
    Association,                             *
    *
    Intervenor Defendants.       *
    ________________
    No. 08-1529
    ________________
    United States of America,                *
    *
    Plaintiff - Appellant,       *
    *
    Minnesota Center for Environmental       *
    Advocacy; State of Wisconsin; Save       *
    Lake Superior Association; State of      *
    Minnesota; Minnesota Pollution           *
    Control Agency,                          *
    *
    Intervenor Plaintiffs -      *
    Appellees,                   *
    *
    United States Environmental              *
    Protection Agency; State of Michigan;    *
    City of Duluth,                          *
    *
    Intervenor Plaintiffs,       *
    *    Appeal from the United States
    v.                                 *    District Court for the
    *    District of Minnesota.
    Northshore Mining Company,               *
    *
    Defendant - Appellee,        *
    *
    -2-
    County of Lake, Minnesota;              *
    Northeastern Minnesota Development      *
    Association; Duluth Area Chamber of     *
    Commerce; Village of Babbitt, Ranger    *
    League of Municipalities and Civil      *
    Associations; Village of Beaver Bay;    *
    St. Louis County; Village of Silver     *
    Bay; City of Superior; United States    *
    Corps of Engineers; City of Two         *
    Harbors; Lax Lake Property Owners       *
    Association,                            *
    *
    Intervenor Defendants.      *
    ________________
    No. 08-1533
    ________________
    United States of America,               *
    *
    Plaintiff - Appellee,       *
    *
    Minnesota Center for Environmental      *
    Advocacy; State of Wisconsin; Save      *
    Lake Superior Association,              *
    *
    Intervenor Plaintiffs -     *
    Appellees,                  *
    *
    State of Minnesota; Minnesota           *
    Pollution Control Agency,               *
    *
    Intervenor Plaintiffs -     *
    Appellants,                 *
    *
    *
    -3-
    United States Environmental              *
    Protection Agency; State of Michigan;    *
    City of Duluth,                          *
    *
    Intervenor Plaintiffs,       *
    *    Appeal from the United States
    v.                                 *    District Court for the
    *    District of Minnesota.
    Northshore Mining Company,               *
    *
    Defendant - Appellee,        *
    *
    County of Lake, Minnesota;               *
    Northeastern Minnesota Development       *
    Association; Duluth Area Chamber of      *
    Commerce; Village of Babbitt, Ranger     *
    League of Municipalities and Civil       *
    Associations; Village of Beaver Bay;     *
    St. Louis County; Village of Silver      *
    Bay; City of Superior; United States     *
    Corps of Engineers; City of Two          *
    Harbors; Lax Lake Property Owners        *
    Association,                             *
    *
    Intervenor Defendants.       *
    ________________
    Submitted: February 11, 2009
    Filed: August 17, 2009
    ________________
    Before BYE, JOHN R. GIBSON and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges.
    ________________
    GRUENDER, Circuit Judge.
    -4-
    Northshore Mining Company, the United States of America, and the State of
    Minnesota and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency each appeal from the district
    court’s1 order holding that those portions of a 1975 injunction regulating air emissions
    from Northshore’s taconite pellet operation at Silver Bay, Minnesota, were moot. For
    the reasons discussed below, we affirm.
    I.    BACKGROUND
    A.     1972–1975: Federal Litigation and Injunction
    In February 1972, the United States filed suit against the Reserve Mining
    Company (“Reserve”), seeking injunctive relief limiting the air and water emissions
    discharged from Reserve’s iron ore processing facility in Silver Bay, Minnesota. The
    United States alleged that the Silver Bay facility was discharging harmful
    cummingtonite-grunerite mineral fibers (“fibers”) into the waters of Lake Superior
    and into the air above the Great Lakes in violation of various federal and state statutes
    and federal and state common law.2
    After a 139-day bench trial, the district court issued a memorandum opinion and
    order granting injunctive relief to the plaintiffs. See United States v. Reserve Mining
    Co., 
    380 F. Supp. 11
    (D. Minn. 1974), modified and remanded sub nom. Reserve
    Mining Co. v. EPA, 
    514 F.2d 492
    (8th Cir. 1975) (en banc). The district court found
    that the fibers discharged into the air by Reserve’s Silver Bay facility were similar or
    1
    The Honorable Paul A. Magnuson, United States District Judge for the District
    of Minnesota.
    2
    Numerous entities petitioned to intervene as parties to the litigation, and the
    United States and Reserve moved to compel the addition of other entities. By granting
    these petitions and motions, the district court added as plaintiffs, among others, the
    State of Minnesota (“Minnesota”) and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
    (“MPCA”).
    -5-
    identical to amosite asbestos, a known carcinogen. Although the court recognized that
    medical science had not yet determined what would constitute a “safe” level of
    airborne asbestos fibers, the court was satisfied that the amount of fibers discharged
    by the facility posed “a serious health hazard to the people exposed to it.” 
    Id. at 17.
    Thus, the district court concluded that Reserve’s air emissions constituted a nuisance
    under federal and state common law and violated Minnesota’s air pollution control
    regulations. 
    Id. Based on
    these violations of state and federal law, the court enjoined
    the Silver Bay facility’s discharge of fibers into the air, beginning at 12:01 a.m., the
    following day, April 21, 1974. 
    Id. at 21.
    The injunction had the practical effect of
    requiring the closure of the facility.
    Reserve immediately filed a motion to stay the district court’s injunction
    pending an appeal on the merits, which this court granted, conditioned “upon a
    showing by Reserve that it is taking prompt steps to prepare and implement an
    appropriate plan for abatement.” Reserve Mining Co. v. United States, 
    498 F.2d 1073
    ,
    1086 & n.15 (8th Cir. 1974). Shortly thereafter, this court sitting en banc modified
    the injunction in part and remanded the case to the district court. Reserve Mining Co.
    v. EPA, 
    514 F.2d 492
    (8th Cir. 1975) (en banc). We agreed with the district court’s
    conclusion that the Silver Bay facility’s air emissions violated Minnesota’s air
    pollution control regulations and constituted a nuisance under Minnesota state law.
    
    Id. at 524.
    We disagreed, however, with the district court’s conclusion that the air
    emissions constituted a nuisance under federal common law because the evidence did
    not show that the emissions had interstate effects. 
    Id. at 520-22.
    Additionally, we
    modified the district court’s injunction as it related to air emissions, requiring that
    Reserve must use such available technology as will reduce the asbestos
    fiber count in the ambient air at Silver Bay below a medically significant
    level. According to the record in this case, controls may be deemed
    adequate which will reduce the fiber count to the level ordinarily found
    in the ambient air of a control city such as St. Paul.
    -6-
    
    Id. at 538-39.
    The parties refer to this requirement as the “control city standard.” We
    allotted Reserve a reasonable time to design and implement measures to bring its
    facilities into compliance with the modified injunction. 
    Id. at 537-38.
    B.     1976–2007: Post-Injunction Developments and State Regulation
    Following our en banc decision, Reserve proposed over $200 million in
    improvements and new construction to bring its Silver Bay facility into compliance
    with the terms of the modified injunction. In mid-1976, however, the MPCA resisted
    Reserve’s proposed remedial measures by denying Reserve the permits necessary to
    construct and operate these improvements. Reserve sued in state court to compel the
    MPCA to issue the permits. The Minnesota Supreme Court ultimately resolved the
    dispute in Reserve’s favor and remanded the matter to the state trial court for further
    proceedings. Reserve Mining Co. v. Herbst, 
    256 N.W.2d 808
    , 846 (Minn. 1977).
    The MPCA complied with the Minnesota Supreme Court’s order by issuing the
    requisite construction and operating permits; however, in doing so, the MPCA
    incorporated the injunction’s control city standard into the operating permits. The
    permits required that “the ambient air shall contain no more fibers than that level
    ordinarily found in the ambient air of a control city such as St. Paul” and that “the
    fibers in the ambient air shall be maintained below a level which is injurious to human
    health or welfare in violation of Minnesota Statute Section 116.03(3).” Reserve
    Mining Co. v. Minn. Pollution Control Agency, 
    267 N.W.2d 720
    , 722 (Minn. 1978)
    (alterations omitted). Reserve objected to the MPCA’s operating permit language in
    the remanded state action, and after the MPCA unsuccessfully tried to remove the
    dispute to federal court, see Reserve Mining Co. v. Minn. Pollution Control Agency,
    
    434 F. Supp. 1191
    , 1193 (D. Minn. 1977) (remanding the case to state court because
    “[t]he question of standards and regulations imposed by state law is separate from the
    federal imposed ambient air standard”), the state trial court amended the permits by
    modifying the control city standard, see Reserve Mining 
    Co., 267 N.W.2d at 722
    . On
    -7-
    appeal, the Minnesota Supreme Court reinstated the original control city standard in
    the operating permits. 
    Id. at 727.
    After Reserve completed the improvements to the Silver Bay facility, the
    MPCA took air samples from Silver Bay and St. Paul in 1979 and 1980 to determine
    the cities’ respective fiber counts. The test results showed that the fiber count in
    Silver Bay was less than that in St. Paul, thereby satisfying the control city standard
    in the injunction and the state permits. In October 1981, the parties stipulated to an
    administrative dismissal of the federal lawsuit, providing, however, that the federal
    district court would retain jurisdiction over the injunction. In 1989, Reserve sold its
    Silver Bay facility to the Northshore Mining Company (“Northshore”). The
    subsequent MPCA permits issued to Northshore contained the control city standard.
    In 2005, believing that the fiber count in St. Paul had decreased since 1980, the
    MPCA informed Northshore that it was going to resume testing in Silver Bay and St.
    Paul to ensure continuing compliance with the control city standard. In December
    2006, Northshore filed an administrative permit application with the MPCA, seeking
    to strike the control city standard from its state permits. In its application, Northshore
    argued that the control city standard was no longer necessary for two reasons: (1) the
    1979 and 1980 tests demonstrated the effectiveness of the earlier abatement actions,
    and (2) even if the current fiber count in Silver Bay was then greater than that in St.
    Paul, the current Silver Bay fiber count was nevertheless below a “medically
    significant level.” The MPCA denied the application in February 2007 because
    Northshore’s request was a “major permit amendment” that required a more extensive
    application procedure. In May 2007, Northshore appealed to the Minnesota Court of
    Appeals, which affirmed the MPCA’s decision. Northshore Mining Co. v. Minn.
    Pollution Control Agency, No. A07-0634, 
    2008 WL 2103550
    (Minn. Ct. App. May
    20, 2008) (unpublished). Northshore submitted a major permit amendment
    application in August 2008, and its efforts to secure the amendment are ongoing.
    -8-
    C.     2007: Injunction Revisited
    In July 2007, while its appeal was pending before the Minnesota Court of
    Appeals, Northshore filed a motion with the federal district court seeking clarification
    of and relief from the injunction’s control city standard under Federal Rule of Civil
    Procedure 60(b). The district court denied Northshore’s motion, concluding that
    Northshore lacked standing to bring its claim under Rule 60(b) because it had not
    demonstrated that its alleged injury would be fully redressed by a favorable ruling.
    United States v. Northshore Mining Co., No. 72-0019, 
    2007 WL 4563418
    , at *3 (D.
    Minn. Dec. 21, 2007) (unpublished). The district court reasoned that the control city
    standard had become an independent state standard as a result of its inclusion in
    Northshore’s MPCA permits; thus, a favorable decision concerning the injunction
    would not affect Northshore’s duty to comply with the state permits. 
    Id. at *4.
    The
    district court went on, however, to consider sua sponte the continuing need for the
    injunction, holding that
    the 1975 injunction no longer has any force or effect. The injunction has
    been effectively incorporated into state administrative law, in the form
    of the “control city” language in Northshore’s permits. Any conclusion
    that the Court might make on the meaning of the “control city” standard
    would have no meaningful effect because Northshore, as the only party
    bound by the injunction, is also required to comply with the independent
    “control city” standard in its state permits. The injunction has outlived
    its enforceability. It therefore is best described as moot. See 43A C.J.S.
    Injunctions § 90 (“If the thing sought to be enjoined in fact takes place,
    is no longer taking place, or can no longer take place, the grant or denial
    of an injunction becomes moot.”) . . . .
    
    Id. Accordingly, the
    district court ordered that “[t]he Injunction as modified by the
    Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals . . . is MOOT.” 
    Id. at *5.3
    3
    As a threshold matter, we clarify the scope of the district court’s order
    declaring sua sponte that “[t]he Injunction . . . is MOOT.” The injunction contains
    -9-
    Northshore, the United States, and Minnesota and the MPCA now appeal from
    the district court’s order. In its appeal, Northshore does not challenge the court’s
    judgment holding that the injunction’s air-emissions provisions are moot. Instead,
    Northshore argues that the district court erred in concluding that Northshore lacked
    standing to bring its claim under Rule 60(b) and that the control city standard in the
    state permit operates as an independent administrative standard separate from the
    injunction. The United States in its cross-appeal argues that the district court erred in
    vacating the injunction as moot. Similarly, Minnesota and the MPCA in their cross-
    appeal “ask[] this Court to clarify that the federal injunction remains valid and in
    effect because Northshore failed to establish a legitimate basis for dissolving the
    injunction.”
    II.   DISCUSSION
    A.     Jurisdictional Challenges
    Before reaching the merits of the appeal and cross-appeals, we begin by
    analyzing jurisdictional challenges raised by Northshore and the United States. The
    United States contends that Northshore is not an aggrieved party entitled to exercise
    the statutory right to appeal from the district court’s order because the district court’s
    order granted Northshore all of the relief that it sought. Similarly, Northshore argues
    that the United States is not an aggrieved party entitled to exercise the statutory right
    provisions regulating both air and water emissions from the Silver Bay facility.
    However, because Northshore sought relief from the district court concerning only the
    air-emissions provisions, because the court did not mention or discuss any of the
    water-emissions provisions, and because the parties to this action have all interpreted
    the district court’s declaration as vacating only those portions of the injunction
    concerning the Silver Bay facility’s air emissions, we conclude that the order pertains
    only to the air-emissions provisions and that the remaining water-emissions provisions
    remain intact.
    -10-
    to cross-appeal from the district court’s order because it was not a beneficiary of the
    air-emissions provisions of the injunction since this court’s 1975 en banc decision
    dismissed all of the air-emissions claims arising under federal law.
    These jurisdictional challenges touch on a key rule of federal appellate practice,
    that “[o]rdinarily, only a party aggrieved by a judgment or order of a district court
    may exercise the statutory right to appeal therefrom.” Deposit Guar. Nat’l Bank v.
    Roper, 
    445 U.S. 326
    , 333 (1980). “A party who receives all that he has sought
    generally is not aggrieved by the judgment affording the relief and cannot appeal from
    it.” 
    Id. Likewise, “a
    litigant that is a party to the overall case may lack standing to
    appeal from a judgment [concerning] a claim to which it was not a party . . . [where]
    the appellants were not personally aggrieved by the judgment under appeal.” City of
    Cleveland v. Ohio, 
    508 F.3d 827
    , 836 (6th Cir. 2007). “In an appropriate case, appeal
    may be permitted from an adverse ruling collateral to the judgment on the merits . .
    . so long as that party retains a stake in the appeal satisfying the requirements of Art.
    III.” Deposit Guar. Nat’l 
    Bank, 445 U.S. at 334
    . However, “[a] party may not appeal
    from a judgment or decree . . . for the purpose of obtaining a review of findings he
    deems erroneous which are not necessary to support the decree.” Bierle v. Liberty
    Mut. Ins. Co., 
    992 F.2d 873
    , 876 (8th Cir. 1993) (quoting Elec. Fittings Corp. v.
    Thomas & Betts Co., 
    307 U.S. 241
    , 242 (1939)).
    We first address the question whether Northshore was aggrieved by the district
    court’s order such that we have jurisdiction over its appeal. As a preliminary matter,
    we find that Northshore was the prevailing party in the district court and “received all
    that [it] has sought generally” by the district court’s judgment, which vacated the air-
    emissions provisions in the injunction and entirely relieved Northshore from its legal
    obligation to comply with those provisions. See Deposit Guar. Nat’l 
    Bank, 445 U.S. at 333
    . This finding is supported by the fact that Northshore did not challenge the
    judgment in its appeal, and it has actively defended the judgment against attacks by
    the United States and Minnesota and the MPCA. Thus, having received all that it has
    -11-
    sought generally, Northshore may only take an appeal from an adverse ruling
    collateral to the judgment if the collateral ruling is necessary to support the district
    court’s order. See 
    Bierle, 992 F.2d at 876
    .
    Northshore claims that it is aggrieved by the district court’s collateral ruling
    denying its Rule 60(b) motion for lack of standing—a conclusion based on the court’s
    finding that the control city standard “has evolved into and also operates as an
    independent administrative standard rooted in state law.” Northshore Mining Co.,
    
    2007 WL 4563418
    , at *3. While we agree with Northshore that the district court erred
    in concluding that it lacked a redressable injury necessary to pursue its Rule 60(b)
    motion, we disagree with Northshore’s assertion that this error necessarily makes
    Northshore a party aggrieved by the district court’s order. The district court’s
    erroneous conclusion that Northshore lacked standing to bring its claim under Rule
    60(b) was immaterial to the court’s ultimate judgment vacating the injunction. See
    Pierson v. Dormire, 
    484 F.3d 486
    , 491 (8th Cir. 2007) (“[A] district court can grant
    relief from a judgment pursuant to Rule 60(b) sua sponte.”), vacated in part on other
    grounds, 276 Fed. Appx. 541 (8th Cir. 2008) (unpublished per curiam); Booker v.
    Special Sch. Dist. No. 1, 
    585 F.2d 347
    , 352 (8th Cir. 1978) (“There is no question that
    in a proper case a federal district court that has issued an injunction may vacate it or
    modify it . . . .”). Because the alleged adverse collateral ruling is not necessary to the
    district court’s judgment and because Northshore does not challenge the judgment
    itself, we conclude that Northshore may not appeal from the district court’s order. See
    -12-
    Deposit Guar. Nat’l 
    Bank, 445 U.S. at 333
    .4 Accordingly, we dismiss Northshore’s
    appeal. See 
    id. We next
    address the question whether the United States was aggrieved by the
    district court’s order such that we have jurisdiction over its appeal. The United States
    claims that it was aggrieved by the district court’s judgment because it was a party to
    the original injunction. The United States argues that its status as a party to the
    injunction is law of the case and is supported by its active participation throughout the
    history of the federal litigation.
    There is no dispute that the United States is a party to the injunction and has
    been actively involved in this litigation since its onset in 1972. See Reserve Mining
    
    Co., 514 F.2d at 501-06
    . However, these facts alone do not dispose of the inquiry;
    rather, we must investigate whether the United States was “personally aggrieved by
    the judgment under appeal.” See City of 
    Cleveland, 508 F.3d at 836
    . Where, as here,
    an injunction protects differing interests of multiple parties, a party’s aggrieved status
    “does not extend to the vindication of the private interests of third parties.” New York
    ex rel. Vacco v. Operation Rescue Nat’l, 
    80 F.3d 64
    , 71 (2d Cir. 1996). After our en
    banc decision, the United States’ interests in the case were limited to preventing the
    4
    We note that Northshore was not aggrieved by the district court’s collateral
    holding that the control city standard is an independent administrative standard rooted
    in state law. A Minnesota state court would not be bound to give preclusive effect to
    that holding because whether the state permits survived the dissolution of the federal
    injunction is ultimately a question of state law.
    We further note that Northshore was not aggrieved by a statement in the district
    court’s order purporting to reject Northshore’s “safe-harbor theory”—that “as long as
    Northshore’s emissions are below the level of fibers found in St. Paul in 1978 through
    1980, Northshore has complied with the terms of the injunction.” Northshore Mining
    Co., 
    2007 WL 4563418
    , at *4 n.4. This statement would not have preclusive effect
    in future litigation because the statement was dicta; it was not necessary for the district
    court to interpret a provision of the injunction that it went on to vacate as moot.
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    Silver Bay facility from violating the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 U.S.C.
    §§ 1160(c)(5) and (g)(1) (1970), and the Refuse Act, 33 U.S.C. § 407 (1970), which
    was accomplished through the injunction’s water-emissions provisions. See Reserve
    Mining 
    Co., 514 F.2d at 529-31
    . The United States’ interests, however, did not extend
    to the Silver Bay facility’s violations of Minnesota’s air pollution control regulations,
    which were the only violations remedied by the injunction’s air-emissions provisions.
    See 
    id. at 520-22.
    Because the district court’s judgment concerns only the air-
    emissions provisions of the injunction, not the water-emissions provisions, we
    conclude that the United States’ interests are not affected by the district court’s order.
    Thus, we conclude that the United States is not an aggrieved party, and we likewise
    dismiss its cross-appeal.5
    B.     District Court’s Judgment Vacating the Injunction
    Left only with their cross-appeal, Minnesota and the MPCA urge us to “affirm
    the district court’s denial of Northshore’s [Rule 60(b)] motion and clarify that the
    federal injunction is still valid.” By asking us to reverse the district court and hold
    that the injunction remains valid, Minnesota and the MPCA ask us to conclude that
    the district court erred by vacating the air-emissions provisions of the injunction.
    We review the district court’s modification of an injunction for abuse of
    discretion, see Keith v. Mullins, 
    162 F.3d 539
    , 540-41 (8th Cir. 1998), recognizing that
    “a federal court of equity has inherent jurisdiction in the exercise of its equitable
    discretion and subject to appropriate appellate review to vacate or modify its
    injunctions,” 
    Booker, 585 F.2d at 352
    . An injunction may become moot “if the
    defendant can demonstrate that ‘there is no reasonable expectation that the wrong will
    5
    As a practical matter, the arguments made by the United States in its cross-
    appeal are virtually identical to the arguments made by Minnesota and the MPCA in
    their cross-appeal, which we address in the next section.
    -14-
    be repeated.’” United States v. W.T. Grant Co., 
    345 U.S. 629
    , 633 (1953) (quoting
    United States v. Aluminum Co. of Am., 
    148 F.2d 416
    , 448 (2d Cir. 1945)). The
    determination of whether it is appropriate to dissolve or modify an injunction “rests
    primarily on the shoulders of the district court that issued the injunction in the first
    place.” 
    Booker, 585 F.2d at 353
    . The district court may exercise this power when it
    realizes that the injunctive relief is no longer needed due to intervening circumstances.
    See 
    Keith, 162 F.3d at 540-41
    .
    The Second Circuit was faced with a similar situation concerning a request for
    injunctive relief in New York v. Seneci, 
    817 F.2d 1015
    , 1016 (2d Cir. 1987). In
    Seneci, the State sought to enjoin Seneci and others “from future racketeering
    practices and fraudulent acts” under New York Executive Law § 63(12) by filing suit
    in New York state court. 
    Id. After the
    case spent three years stalled in state court, the
    State sought the same injunctive relief in federal court, alleging violations of § 63(12)
    and the federal RICO statute. 
    Id. The federal
    district court dismissed for lack of
    standing, and the State appealed. 
    Id. After the
    Second Circuit heard oral argument
    on the appeal, the state court in the parallel action entered an order permanently
    enjoining Seneci and others from engaging in future fraudulent practices. 
    Id. at 1017.
    Accordingly, the Second Circuit found that the state court’s injunction provided the
    State with “all of the . . . relief requested in the present case” and dismissed the appeal
    as moot. 
    Id. Here, we
    conclude that Minnesota and the MPCA have not shown that the
    district court abused its discretion by vacating sua sponte the injunction’s air-
    emissions provisions. When we modified the injunction in 1975, we did so to prevent
    Reserve from emitting harmful levels of fibers into the air in violation of Minnesota’s
    pollution control regulations. At that time, neither Minnesota nor the MPCA had
    pursued any parallel state court or administrative proceedings. Since then, however,
    the MPCA has issued, litigated, and enforced permits addressing the same concerns
    regarding Reserve’s, and later Northshore’s, compliance with Minnesota’s air
    -15-
    pollution control regulations. In fact, these permits contain the exact same
    standard—the control city standard—as that contained in the injunction.
    In light of the fact that the MPCA’s permits contain identical language to our
    1975 injunction, specifically requiring Northshore’s fiber emissions to be below a
    medically significant level and below the fiber level in the ambient air of a control city
    such as St. Paul, we find that “[the MPCA] has given [Minnesota and itself] all of the
    . . . relief requested in the present case.” See 
    Seneci, 817 F.2d at 1017
    . The injunction
    and the MPCA’s permits were crafted to afford the same relief—preventing
    Northshore from violating Minnesota’s air pollution control regulations by limiting
    the output of fibers. See 
    id. Moreover, Minnesota
    and the MPCA have not shown any
    reasonable expectation that, in the absence of the injunction, Northshore is likely to
    repeat its violation. See W.T. Grant 
    Co., 345 U.S. at 633
    . On the contrary, the thirty-
    seven-year history of this litigation has demonstrated Minnesota and the MPCA’s
    unwavering commitment to ensuring that the operations of Northshore’s Silver Bay
    facility comply with Minnesota’s air pollution control regulations. Based on our
    recognition of the tools available to Minnesota and the MPCA to enforce Northshore’s
    regulatory permits, see, e.g., Minn. Stat. §§ 116.07, 116.072, and the absence of any
    evidence suggesting that such state enforcement would fail to prevent Northshore
    from violating Minnesota’s air pollution control regulations, we cannot conclude that
    the district court abused its discretion in vacating the air-emissions provisions of the
    injunction.
    III.   CONCLUSION
    For the foregoing reasons, we dismiss Northshore’s appeal, dismiss the United
    States’ cross-appeal, and affirm the district court’s conclusion that the air-emissions
    provisions of the injunction are moot.
    ______________________________
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