Community Ass'n for Restoration of the Environment, Inc. v. George & Margaret LLC

954 F. Supp. 2d 1151, 2013 WL 3188821, 77 ERC (BNA) 1356, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87721
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Washington
DecidedJune 21, 2013
DocketNo. 13-CV-3017-TOR
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 954 F. Supp. 2d 1151 (Community Ass'n for Restoration of the Environment, Inc. v. George & Margaret LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Community Ass'n for Restoration of the Environment, Inc. v. George & Margaret LLC, 954 F. Supp. 2d 1151, 2013 WL 3188821, 77 ERC (BNA) 1356, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87721 (E.D. Wash. 2013).

Opinion

[1154]*1154ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS’ JOINT MOTION TO DISMISS

THOMAS O. RICE, District Judge.

BEFORE THE COURT is Defendants’ Joint Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 26). Also before the Court is Defendants’ Motion to Strike Declarations (ECF No. 46). These matters were heard with oral argument on June 7, 2013. Charles M. Tebbutt, Brad J. Moore, and Elisabeth A. Holmes appeared on behalf of the Plaintiffs. Debora K. Kristensen, Dustin E. Yeager, Preston N. Carter, and Mathew L. Harrington appeared on behalf of Defendants. The Court has reviewed the briefing and the record and files herein, had the benefit of oral argument, and is fully-informed.

BACKGROUND

Defendants are diaries housing a large number of animals, and must handle significant amounts of manure generated by the herd. ECF No. 25 at ¶¶ 32, 36 (First Amended Complaint). The manure is managed in various ways, including: transforming it into compost and selling it, applying it to agricultural fields as fertilizer, and storing liquid manure in lagoons until it is applied to agricultural fields. Id. at ¶¶ 37-42. Plaintiffs (“CARE”) allege that manure is a solid waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”) because when applied to agricultural fields at above-agronomic levels and leaked from lagoons storing liquid manure it is discarded; thereby causing high levels of nitrates in underground drinking water. CARE alleges that this action is a violation of the RCRA because (1) it causes an imminent and substantial danger to public health and the environment (42 U.S.C. § 6972(a)(1)(B)); and (2) constitutes illegal open dumping (42 U.S.C. § 6945(a)).

In March 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) exercised its power under section 1431 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (“SDWA”), and entered a Consent Order with Defendants addressing the high level of nitrates in underground drinking water. ECF No. 26-1; see W.R. Grace & Co. v. EPA, 261 F.3d 330, 338-39 (3d Cir.2001) (EPA Administrator may “take action necessary to protect the public’s health from an imminent and substantial endangerment created by contaminants in a public water system or an underground source of drinking water.”). The “goal” of the Consent Order is “to achieve drinking water quality that meets the EPA maximum contaminant level (‘MCL’) for nitrate of 10 mg/L in the drinking water aquifer beneath and down-gradient of the Dairy Facilities.” ECF No. 26-1, Appx. B at p. 1.

On February 14, 2013, CARE filed the instant lawsuit alleging violations under RCRA. ECF No. 1. CARE was granted leave to file an Amended Complaint in April 2013. See ECF No. 25. Presently before the Court is Defendants’ joint motion to dismiss1 and motion to strike declarations.

[1155]*1155DISCUSSION

I. Defendant’s Motion to Strike Declarations

Defendants ask the Court to strike declarations submitted by CARE as part of their response to Defendants’ joint motion to dismiss, including: the Shaw Declaration (ECF No. 36) and the “Standing Declarations” (ECF. No. 37-41). However, the Court does not rely on any of this evidence for the substance of its ruling on Defendants’ joint motion to dismiss. Rather, the Court relies entirely on the Amended Complaint and additional materials appropriately incorporated by reference or a matter of judicial notice. See United States v. Ritchie, 342 F.3d 903, 907-908 (9th Cir.2003) (generally a court may not consider material beyond the pleadings on a 12(b)(6) motion without converting the motion to dismiss to a motion for summary judgment, however, a court may consider materials including documents attached to the complaint, documents incorporated by reference in the complaint, and matters of judicial notice, without converting the motion). Thus, Defendants’ motion to strike these exhibits is denied as moot.

II. Defendant’s Joint Motion to Dismiss

A. Standard of Review

To withstand a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), a complaint must set forth factual allegations sufficient “to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). The tenet that a court must accept as true all of the allegations contained in a complaint is inapplicable to legal conclusions. Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by-mere conclusory statements, do not suffice. Id. (“Although for the purposes of a motion to dismiss we must take all of the factual allegations in the complaint as true, we are not bound to accept as true a legal conclusion couched as a factual allegation” (internal quotation marks omitted)). A pleading that offers “labels and conclusions” or “a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.” Id.

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2), a pleading must contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” The pleading standard set by Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure “does not require ‘detailed factual allegations,’ but it demands more than an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). Rule 8 marks a notable and generous departure from the hyper-technical, code-pleading regime of a prior era, but it does not unlock the doors of discovery for a plaintiff armed with nothing more than conclusions. Id. at 678-79, 129 S.Ct. 1937. In assessing whether Rule 8(a)(2) is satisfied, the Court first identifies the elements of the asserted claim based on statute or case law. Id. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937. The Ninth Circuit follows the methodological approach set forth in Iqbal for the assessment of a plaintiffs complaint:

“[A] court considering a motion to dismiss can choose to begin by identifying pleadings that, because they are no more than conclusions, are not entitled to the assumption of truth. While legal conclusions can provide the framework of a complaint, they must be supported by factual allegations. When there are well-pleaded factual allegations, a court should assume their veracity and then determine whether they plausibly give rise to an entitlement to relief.”

[1156]*1156Moss v. U.S. Secret Service, 572 F.3d 962, 970 (9th Cir.2009) (quoting Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1950).

B.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

San Francisco Herring Ass'n v. Pacific Gas & Electric Co.
81 F. Supp. 3d 847 (N.D. California, 2015)
Sherrill v. Mayor of Baltimore
31 F. Supp. 3d 750 (D. Maryland, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
954 F. Supp. 2d 1151, 2013 WL 3188821, 77 ERC (BNA) 1356, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87721, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/community-assn-for-restoration-of-the-environment-inc-v-george-waed-2013.