Garrison Southfield Park LLC v. Closed Loop Refining and Recovery, Inc.

District Court, S.D. Ohio·Decided November 13, 2019·No. 2:17-cv-00783·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO EASTERN DIVISION GARRISON SOUTHFIELD PARK LLC, Plaintiff, Case No. 2:17-cv-783 JUDGE EDMUND A. SARGUS, JR. Vv. Chief Magistrate Judge Elizabeth P. Deavers CLOSED LOOP REFINING AND RECOVERY, INC., et al., Defendants. OPINION AND ORDER This matter is before the Court on Defendant Moshe Silagi’s (“Defendant Silagi”) Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 256); Plaintiff Garrison Southfield Park LLC’s Response in Opposition (ECF No. 365); and Defendant Silagi’s Reply (ECF No. 395). For the reasons that follow, the Court DENIES Defendant Silagi’s Motion to Dismiss. (ECF No. 256). I, A. Factual Background Defendant Silagi is the former managing member of California limited liability company MS-South, LLC (“MS-South”). (Pl.’s Am. Compl. { 11, ECF No. 85). Plaintiff is a limited liability company organized in Delaware, with its principal place of business in New York. (/d. □ 9). Plaintiff brings this action alleging that Defendant Silagi and numerous co-defendants caused environmental contamination at two warehouses owned by Plaintiff, located at 1655 and 1675 Watkins Road, Columbus, Ohio 43207 (the “Properties”). (Jd. 1). Specifically, Plaintiff alleges the Properties contain “more than 64,000 tons (128 million pounds) of hazardous electronic waste (‘e-waste’)” as a result of an “elaborate sham recycling scheme.” (/d. § 2).

MS-South was Plaintiff's predecessor-in-interest to the Properties. (Jd. 62). On or about April 6, 2012, MS-South entered into a Lease Agreement with Defendant Closed Loop Refining and Recovery, Inc. (“Defendant Closed Loop”) for the permitted use of “[w]arehousing, distribution, electronic recycling and de-manufacturing of cathode ray tubes” at 1675 Watkins Road. (/d { 62(a)). The Lease Agreement also provided Defendant Closed Loop with an option to lease 100,000 square feet at the premises on 1655 Watkins Road. (/d. J 62(d)). Plaintiff alleges that, under the terms of the Lease Agreement, Defendant Closed Loop was required to comply with federal and state hazardous waste laws. (/d. 4 62(c)). According to the First Amended Complaint, cathode ray tubes (“CRTs”) contain lead, “a toxic substance that can cause delayed neurological development in children and other adverse health effects in adults.” (fd. J 83). Plaintiff maintains that the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”) “regulates the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous wastes and provides for a conditional exclusion for legitimate CRT recycling operations—but only if certain criteria are met.” (Jd 7 85) (citing 40 C.F.R. §§ 261.39 & 261.1(c)(8) and O.R.C. 3745-51-39 & 3745-51-01(C)(8)). For instance, the CRT conditional exclusion requires a showing that: “during the calendar year commencing January first, the amount of material that is recycled, or transferred to a different site for recycling, equals at least seventy- five percent by weight or volume of the amount of that material accumulated at the beginning of the calendar year.” (/d. J 106). Plaintiff alleges that from 2012 to 2016, Defendant Closed Loop misrepresented that it qualified for the CRT conditional exclusion by “process[ing] inbound CRTs through disassembly and glass breaking within the calendar year during which they were received, but then .. . indefinitely [storing] the vast majority of the crushed CRT glass in the center of the warehouse at

1675 Watkins Road.” (/d. { 108-109). In addition, Plaintiff claims that Defendant Closed Loop accepted “pre-processed CRT glass at a higher price-per-pound to help fund the enterprise, despite the fact that it had no capacity to recycle this stream any further, within the calendar year or otherwise.” (/d. § 110). Thus, Plaintiff estimates that Defendant Closed Loop “speculatively accumulated and abandoned” approximately 30,000 pallet-sized containers of crushed CRT glass and 14,500 pallet-sized containers of intact CRTs at the Properties. (id. J 112). Plaintiff further alleges that Defendant Silagi “exercised extensive and exclusive control” over MS-South, therefore “managf[ing], direct[ing], and conduct[ing] the operations of MS-South LLC as they related to tenant disposal of hazardous waste and/or tenant compliance with environmental regulations.” (/d. {215 & 217). On or about April 29, 2013, Plaintiff purchased the Properties from MS-South and “assumed all right, title and interest” in the Properties. (Jd. § 64 & 72). Additionally, Plaintiff asserts that it assumed all rights and obligations as landlord under the Lease Agreement with Defendant Closed Loop. (Id. J 64). According to Plaintiff, Defendant Silagi made misrepresentations to Plaintiff in the April 29, 2013 Purchase and Sale Agreement (“PSA”) by averring that: [t]o Seller’s knowledge, except as set forth on Schedule 3.1.10 . . . during Seller’s term of ownership, the Property [which included 1675 Watkins Road] has not been used for industrial purposes or for the storage, treatment or disposal of Hazardous Substances (as hereinafter defined), other than products customarily used or stored incidental to the operation and/or maintenance of the Property, all of which are stored and used in accordance with all applicable Environmental Laws, (id. | 220 (citing Def.’s Ex. 1, ECF No. 256-1)).!

' “Documents that a defendant attaches to a motion to dismiss are considered part of the pleadings if they are referred to in the plaintiff's complaint and are central to [its] claim.” Weiner v. Klais & Co., 108 F.3d 86, 88 (6th Cir. 1997). Plaintiff cites to the PSA in its First Amended Complaint, and Defendant Silagi attaches the PSA as Exhibit 1 to his Motion to Dismiss. Accordingly, the Court will properly consider the PSA as part of the pleadings.

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Garrison Southfield Park LLC v. Closed Loop Refining and Recovery, Inc., (S.D. Ohio 2019).

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