Clark v. United States

19 Cl. Ct. 220, 1990 U.S. Claims LEXIS 9, 1990 WL 1533
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedJanuary 12, 1990
DocketNo. 631-84L
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 19 Cl. Ct. 220 (Clark v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Clark v. United States, 19 Cl. Ct. 220, 1990 U.S. Claims LEXIS 9, 1990 WL 1533 (cc 1990).

Opinion

OPINION

SMITH, Chief Judge.

This case comes before the court on the parties’ cross motions for summary judgment under RUSCC 56.1 This opinion follows a related decision issued by the United States District Court for the Western.District' of Washington, which awarded plaintiff damages for diminution in the value of her property caused by the negligent disposal of chemicals at an airbase adjacent to plaintiff’s property. Clark v. United States, 660 F.Supp. 1164 (W.D.Wash.1987), affd, 856 F.2d 1433 (9th Cir.1988). Plaintiff argues in her motion that she should receive relief for her initial taking claim as a matter of law, in light of the district court decision. The claim presently amounts to $34,000 for diminution in the value of the property, and for an additional, unstated amount in interest and attorneys’ fees. The defendant’s motion seeks to dismiss this claim in light of the district court decision because the facts and law determined in that decision leave this court without jurisdiction. For the reasons set forth below, plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment is denied; defendant’s motion for summary judgment is granted.

FACTS

Since 1948, plaintiff has owned and lived on about ten acres of land in American Lake Gardens near Tacoma, Washington. Until early 1983, plaintiff’s sole supply of [221]*221water came from several wells located on her property. Next to plaintiff’s property lies McChord Air Force Base, a military facility which the United States has owned and operated since 1938. During the 1950s and 1960s, the Air Force disposed of various solid and liquid wastes within the confines of the base by burning and by burial.

In December 1982, plaintiff became concerned that her water supply had been contaminated by the disposal of chemicals nearby, and notified McChord Air Force Base personnel. Dissatisfied with the base’s response, plaintiff contacted the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which tested her water supply in late January 1983. Those tests revealed that plaintiff’s wells were contaminated with a chemical known as trichlorethylene (TCE), and a derivative of TCE known as 1,2 trans dichlorethylene (DCE). The EPA classifies these chemicals as extra-hazardous substances and probable human carcinogens.

In January 1983, the EPA advised Mrs. Clark not to consume any more water from her wells. The contamination of her water supply forced her to get water from outside sources until the Air Force began furnishing bottled water to the plaintiff in the spring of 1984. It was not until August 1986 that plaintiff’s property was connected to a public water supply, thereby alleviating her problem.

On December 3, 1984, plaintiff filed an inverse condemnation claim in this court under the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1491, and under the fifth amendment to the Constitution, alleging diminution in value to her property caused by the well water contamination. Later, on February 8, 1985, plaintiff filed a claim in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. In that claim, plaintiff sought damages under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(b), 2671-2680, arising out of defendant’s alleged trespass, nuisance, and negligence.

In response to plaintiff’s filing with the district court, defendant moved to dismiss plaintiff’s taking claim before this court. Defendant contended that plaintiff’s claim, by plaintiff’s own admission, .was a tort rather than a taking. This court denied defendant’s motion, stating that plaintiff should not be prevented from proceeding with her taking claim because the validity of plaintiff’s tort claim had not yet been resolved. Specifically, the court stated that it was most reluctant to dismiss plaintiff’s claim because “plaintiff is merely asking that she not be foreclosed from proving at trial that she has suffered a taking of her property rather than merely a tort.” Clark v. United States, 8 Cl.Ct. 649, 651 (1985).

This court later stayed plaintiff’s taking claim pending a decision of the tort claim in district court. The district court rendered its decision in April 1987 and ruled for plaintiff. In that decision, the district court found that defendant’s actions constituted negligence and resulted in damages of: $26,875 in diminution in property value; $7500 in damage to plumbing; $92 for the cost of purchasing bottled water; $520 for value of time expended in obtaining bottled water; $6150 compensation for lack of tap water and inconvenience resulting therefrom; and $25,000 for emotional distress. Defendant appealed the district court decision, but only on the issue of damages for emotional distress. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s award in a one-paragraph order. 856 F.2d 1433.

With the resolution of plaintiff’s case in the district court, this court lifted its suspension of plaintiff's taking claim. Both parties then filed cross motions for summary judgment. In her motion, plaintiff requests compensation for damage to her property in the amount of $26,875, and for plumbing damage in the amount of $7500. Plaintiff also requests interest and attorneys’ fees.

DISCUSSION

Although Mrs. Clark was proceeding under a tort theory before the district court, seeking damages for diminution in the value of her property, the facts established in the district court proceeding also give rise to a taking claim. Defendant is precluded under the principles of collateral estoppel from relitigating the district court’s find[222]*222ings, and this court is bound by those findings. Therefore, it appears that Mrs. Clark is entitled to summary judgment on her taking claim. However, the court is constrained to enter judgment for defendant, in light of Congress’ intent that a plaintiff not recover against the United States under both a taking theory and a tort theory.

I. Jurisdiction.

Defendant initially argues that the court is precluded from jurisdiction over plaintiff’s taking claim under 28 U.S.C. § 1500, which provides: “The United States Claims Court shall not have jurisdiction of any claim for or in respect to which the plaintiff ... has pending in any other court any suit or process against the United States.”

Plaintiff's claims in the district court and this court involve the same operative facts. Both claims involve the disposal of hazardous wastes on McChord Air Force Base and the effect of that disposal on plaintiff’s well water. Only the legal theories differ. Defendant correctly points out that § 1500 negates Claims Court jurisdiction when the same claim is pending in a district court at the time the Claims Court case is filed. See National Union Fire Insurance Co. v. United States, 19 Cl.Ct. 188 (1989); Beauregard Parish Police Jury v. United States, 16 Cl.Ct. 344, 346-47 (1989).

However, § 1500 does not apply when a plaintiff first files a claim in the Claims Court and subsequently files the same claim in another court. See Tecon Engineers, Inc. v. United States, 343 F.2d 943, 170 Ct.Cl. 389 (1965), cert. denied, 382 U.S. 976, 86 S.Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
19 Cl. Ct. 220, 1990 U.S. Claims LEXIS 9, 1990 WL 1533, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/clark-v-united-states-cc-1990.