Lehigh Portland Cement Company, Appellant v. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Respondent

Summary

The Court held that the dismissal of Lehigh Portland Cement's declaratory judgment action for failure to exhaust administrative remedies was improper because pursuing administrative remedies would have been futile, and therefore reinstated the complaint for adjudication on the merits. The dissent argued that the futility exception does not apply and that the lower courts correctly dismissed the action.