Carrier Corp. v. Piper

460 F. Supp. 2d 853, 2006 WL 3025859
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Carrier Corp. v. Piper. Read the opinion of the Court — 460 F. Supp. 2d 827
District Court, W.D. Tennessee·Decided October 24, 2006·No. 05-2307 Ml/V·Published

Opinion

*854 ORDER SETTING ASIDE MAGISTRATE JUDGE’S JANUARY 13, 2006 REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION AND ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE A DEFERRED AMENDED COMPLAINT

McCALLA, District Judge.

Before the Court is Plaintiffs Renewed Motion for Leave to File a Deferred Amended Complaint, filed December 1, 2005. Plaintiff seeks to amend its Complaint to add a new cause of action arising under the “citizen suit” provision contained in Section 7002(a)(1)(B) of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”), 42 U.S.C.' § 6972(a)(1)(B). Defendant Quanex Corporation (“Quanex”), Defendant Lund Coating Technologies, Inc. (“Lund”), and the Piper Defendants 1 oppose the motion. Each filed a response in opposition to the motion on December 12, 2005, after which Plaintiff filed a reply brief on January 6, 2006. On December 16, 2005, this Court referred the matter to Magistrate Judge Vescovo for report and recommendation. On January 13, 2006, Magistrate Judge Vescovo entered a Report and Recommendation on Plaintiffs Renewed Motion for Leave to File a Deferred Amended Complaint recommending that Plaintiffs renewed motion be granted. Defendants filed objections to the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation on January 30, 2006, and Plaintiff filed a memorandum in support on February 9, 2006. In response to Plaintiffs memorandum in support, Defendant Quanex filed a reply memorandum on February 21, 2006. On March 8, 2006, Plaintiff filed a surreply in support of the Report and Recommendation and in response to Quanex’s reply.

Pursuant to Local Rule 72.1(g)(2), the Court has reviewed de novo the parties’ original briefs, the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation, Defendants’ objections and reply, and Plaintiffs memorandum in support and surreply. Based on this de novo review, the Court finds it appropriate to set aside the magistrate judge’s January 30, 2006 Report and Recommendation. For the following reasons, the Court SETS ASIDE the magistrate judge’s January 13, 2006 Report and Recommendation, and DENIES Plaintiffs Renewed Motion for Leave to File a Deferred Amended Complaint.

1. BACKGROUND

The instant lawsuit arises out of Plaintiffs asserted need to remediate chromium discovered at the Town of Collierville’s (“Town’s”) municipal water wells, Water Plant 2 (“Water Plant 2”), that Carrier alleges has impacted its own trichloroethy-lene (“TCE”) remediation operations. 2 Plaintiff seeks to recover past and future response costs, damages, and other relief “relating to the deposition, release and disposal of chemical liquids or solid, semisolid or liquid wastes or hazardous wastes or ‘hazardous substances’ ... at, on or under certain property located at or near 719 Piper Street, Collierville, Tennessee *855 (the ‘Smalley-Piper Site’).” (First Am. Compl. ¶ 1.) According to Carrier, each of the Defendants is a current or past owner and/or operator of industrial manufacturing or other business operations at the Smalley-Piper Site. (Id. ¶ 37.)

Carrier has been manufacturing heating and air conditioning equipment at its property located at 97 Byhalia Road, Collier-ville, Tennessee (“Carrier Property”) since the late 1960s. (Id. ¶ 34-35.) In July 1986, TCE was discovered in Water Plant 2. Water Plant 2 is located adjacent to Carrier Property. (Id. ¶ 41.) In response to the discovery of the TCE release, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“USEPA”) issued a Record of Decision (“ROD”) on September 2, 1992 (First Am. Compl. ¶ 43) and on February 11, 1993, the USEPA issued a Unilateral Administrative Order for Remedial Design and Remedial Action (“1993 UAO”) to Carrier. (Id. ¶ 42). 3 Pursuant to the 1993 UAO, Carrier has implemented investigative and remedial steps in order to address the TCE contamination in the soil and groundwater at Water Plant 2 and Carrier Property, and, according to Carrier, it will have to complete additional work related to TCE contamination in the future. (Id. ¶ 43.) In particular, under the ROD, Carrier must maintain control over the TCE contamination in the groundwater by pumping and treating the groundwater through Water Plant 2. (Id. ¶ 44.) Under an agreement entered in April 1996 between Carrier and the Town of Collierville (“Town”), once Carrier treats the TCE, the treated water would be introduced into the Town’s potable water supply. (Id. ¶ 45.)

In April 2003, the Town informed Carrier that it had found chromium in Water Plant 2. (Id. ¶46.) As a result of the presence of unacceptable levels of chromium, the Town shut down Water Plant 2 in December 2003. (First Am. Compl. ¶ 47.) Since then, the Town and Carrier have entered into an Interim Agreement whereby Carrier would discharge treated groundwater from Water Plant 2 into the Town’s publicly owned treatment works (“POTW”). (Id. ¶ 48.) Carrier claims that it is required to treat the groundwater for chromium in order to discharge it to the POTW (Id. ¶ 48) and that it has incurred substantial costs in the discharging of treated water from Water Plant 2 to the POTW, and in researching and implementing options for treating the chromium in the water at Water Plant 2. (Id. ¶ 50-51).

In October 2004, the USEPA issued an Administrative Order on Consent for Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (“2004 AOC”), in which some of the Piper Defendants agreed to conduct and implement a Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (“RIFS”) concerning the Smalley-Piper Site. 4 (Quanex Corp.’s Obj. to Mag.’s Rep. and Rec. Dec. on PL’s Renewed Mot. for Leave to File Deferred *856 Am. Compl. (“Quanex’s Obj.”), Jan. 30, 2006, Doc. 99, at 3, Ex. B at 1-2.) On September 23, 2005, the USEPA proposed listing the Smalley-Piper Site on the National Priorities List (“NPL”) for chromium contamination. The Smalley-Piper Site was listed on the NPL on April 27, 2005. (First Am. Compl. ¶ 52.) Also, chromium has been identified as a substance historically used by Defendants and/or third parties in the course of business operations at the Smalley-Piper Site. (Id ¶ 53.)

According to Carrier, it is the chromium originating at the Smalley-Piper Site which has migrated to Water Plant 2 and surrounding properties. (Id ¶ 55.) Further, according to Carrier, neither chromium nor any similar substance was ever disposed, discharged, spilled, or released at the Carrier Property. (Id ¶ 56.) Finally, Carrier believes that it is or may be required by the USEPA and/or the Tennessee Department of Environmental Conservation to investigate and remediate the chromium. (Id ¶ 57.)

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Carrier Corp. v. Piper, 460 F. Supp. 2d 853, 2006 WL 3025859 (W.D. Tenn. 2006).

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