Cook v. Rockwell International Corp.

147 F.R.D. 237, 1993 WL 89112
CourtDistrict Court, D. Colorado
DecidedMarch 29, 1993
DocketCiv. A. No. 90-K-181
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 147 F.R.D. 237 (Cook v. Rockwell International Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cook v. Rockwell International Corp., 147 F.R.D. 237, 1993 WL 89112 (D. Colo. 1993).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

KANE, District Judge.

This case is before me on: (1) Plaintiffs’ appeal from two orders entered by Magistrate Judge Abram on December 30, 1992, and (2) Defendants Rockwell International, Inc. and Dow Chemical Company’s motions to dismiss the case under Rules 11 and 37. Both Plaintiffs’ and Defendants’ motions focus on the same fundamental question: whether Plaintiffs in this toxic tort litigation should be permitted further discovery regarding the release of hazardous substances at Rocky Flats, or whether this action should be dismissed because they are unable to state with certainty that they have been exposed to potentially dangerous amounts of specific hazardous substances.

This is a technically complex case. The information necessary to support Plaintiffs’ factual allegations has been largely within the control of the Defendants and third parties. To date, Plaintiffs have had limited discovery and little time to analyze the results of that discovery. Therefore, despite the deferential standard governing review of the magistrate judge’s discovery orders, I will modify the orders, deny the motions to dismiss, and establish further discovery and case prosecution deadlines through a scheduling or pretrial order.

I. Facts.

On January 30,1990, a number of individuals, Bank Western and the Field Corporation (a subsidiary of Bank Western) (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) filed this putative class action. These parties live on or hold an interest in real property located near the Rocky Flats weapons production facility located northwest of Denver, Colorado. Rocky Flats is [240]*240owned by the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”). Defendant Dow operated Rocky Flats from its inception in the early 1950’s to June 30,1975. Defendant Rockwell operated it from the latter date to December 31, 1989. EG & G Rocky Flats, Inc. (“EG & G”) is currently the facility’s contractor.

Plaintiffs allege that during their operation of Rocky Flats, Dow and Rockwell released radioactive and non-radioaetive substances into the surrounding area which damaged their property and could have adverse health consequences. In their second amended complaint, Plaintiffs request class certification 1 and plead claims under Colorado common law, the Price Anderson Act (which incorporates common law), see 42 U.S.C. §§ 2014(hh), 2210, and the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), see 42 U.S.C. § 9607. Their identical common law and Price Anderson claims sound in negligence, strict liability, private nuisance, and outrageous conduct. They seek damages on these claims for property and other economic harm, mental and emotional distress and medical monitoring, plus exemplary damages. They request response costs under CERCLA.

The discovery history of this ease is not pretty. Plaintiffs first-served discovery on April 19, 1990, shortly after the case was filed. Dow and Rockwell quickly moved to dismiss or for summary judgment.2 On May 14, 1990, they also moved for a protective order pending resolution of these dispositive motions, effectively staying discovery by operation of then Local Rule 403.A. The motion for protective order was never adjudicated. Once the motions to dismiss and for summary judgment were resolved, both parties suggested various discovery proposals. Plaintiffs moved for a case management order and Defendants again moved for a stay of discovery, arguing it should not be permitted because the case had no factual basis. The court did not rule on these motions. For the most part, discovery did not commence until this past summer.

On April 16,1992, the case was referred to Chief Magistrate Judge Abram for a scheduling conference and entry of a discovery scheduling order. On May 15, 1992, Plaintiffs filed a notice in this ease that they had petitioned the court in United States v. Rockwell International Corp., No. 92-CR-107, for disclosure of certain grand jury materials in that criminal case. Chief Judge Finesilver denied the petition on May 20, 1992, finding that the Plaintiffs had not advanced “good and sufficient” reasons for disclosure of the materials.3

On June 29, 1992 the magistrate judge conducted a scheduling conference, and the following day entered an order requiring Defendants to produce “the databases and indices that exist as to the Church, ChemRisk, Doty & Associates and grand jury documents.” 4 Plaintiffs, in turn, were ordered to [241]*241provide a specific statement of facts supporting each of the individual plaintiffs’ claims, including the identification of each hazardous substance to which he or she was exposed, the amount of the exposure and any experts relied on to establish such exposure, plus an explanation of the basis for any medical monitoring, CERCLA, or property damage claims. Apart from these matters, no comprehensive scheduling order was entered at this time.

On August 17, 1992, Plaintiffs moved to compel Dow and Rockwell’s compliance with the magistrate judge’s June 30 order. They alleged that, while Defendants had provided computerized databases to the grand jury documents, they had not provided the Church, ChemRisk and Doty & Associates documents in computer-readable form. Dow and Rockwell opposed the motion.

On September 2, 1992, the magistrate judge held another scheduling conference. First, he granted Plaintiffs’ motion to compel production of the Church, ChemRisk and Doty & Associates documents on disk, reasoning that “[t]o require the plaintiffs to sort manually when database disks are available, is not reasonable.” He also entered the first true scheduling order in this case, establishing limits on the number of interrogatories and requests for production and a deadline for their completion, a schedule for depositions, deadlines for discovery of fact and expert witnesses and dates for settlement, status and pretrial conferences.

On September 23, 1992, Magistrate Judge Abram issued a second order concerning the factual basis for Plaintiffs’ claims and Dow and Rockwell’s production of computerized databases. This order was apparently in response to Dow and Rockwell’s objections to Plaintiffs’ Statement of Factual Basis, served on Dow and Rockwell on August 14 in compliance with the magistrate judge’s June 30, 1992 order. In his September 23 order, the magistrate judge found the Plaintiffs’ statement to be inadequate and directed them to answer seven specific questions with respect to the claims of each individual plaintiff by September 30,1992. In addition, he ordered Plaintiffs to pay Dow and Rockwell $40,000 to reimburse them for half of their cost in optically screening documents provided to Plaintiffs on computer disk.

Plaintiffs objected and moved for reconsideration of the September 23 order, asking the court to withdraw the most recent questions or grant them additional time to answer. They argued that Dow and Rockwell had recently propounded voluminous discovery, they needed more time to respond to it and to digest materials provided through their own discovery, and their responses to Defendants’ discovery would likely be responsive to the court’s questions.

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Bluebook (online)
147 F.R.D. 237, 1993 WL 89112, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cook-v-rockwell-international-corp-cod-1993.