Greenfield MHP Associates, L.P. v. Ametek, Inc.

145 F. Supp. 3d 1000, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 156805, 2015 WL 7313409
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedNovember 18, 2015
DocketCASE NO. 3:15-cv-1525-GPC-BGS
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 145 F. Supp. 3d 1000 (Greenfield MHP Associates, L.P. v. Ametek, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Greenfield MHP Associates, L.P. v. Ametek, Inc., 145 F. Supp. 3d 1000, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 156805, 2015 WL 7313409 (S.D. Cal. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER:

GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANT AMETEK’S MOTION TO DISMISS

ECF No. 24

GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANT SENIOR OPERATION’S MOTION TO DISMISS

[ECF No. 23]

HON. GONZALO P. CURIEL, United States District Judge

Before the Court are Defendant Ametek, Inc. (“Ametek”) and Defendant Senior Operations, LLC’s (“Senior” or “Senior Operations”) separate Motions to Dismiss. Def. Ametek’s Mot. Dismiss (“Am. Mot.”), ECF No. 24; Def. Senior Operations’ Mot. Dismiss (“Sen. Mot.”), ECF No. 23. The motions have been fully briefed.1 See Pis.’ [1004]*1004Opp’n Def. Ametek’s Mot.. Dismiss (“Am. Opp.”), ECF No. 28; Reply Pis.’ Opp’n Def. Ametek’s Mot. Dismiss. (“Am. Reply”), ECF No. 32; Pis.’ Opp’n Def. Senior Operations’. Mot. Dismiss (“Sen. Opp.”), ECF No. 29; Reply Pis.’ Opp’n Def. Senior Operations’ Mot. Dismiss (“Sen. Reply”), ECF No. 33.

Upon consideration of the moving papers and the applicable law, and for the foregoing reasons, the Court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART Ametek’s Motion to Dismiss and GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART Senior Operation’s Motion to Dismiss.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

This case arises out of the dumping of toxic waste by Defendants and their predecessors into a temporary waste storage tank (or “sump”) on their property on Greenfield Drive in El Cajon, California (“Ametek property”). Am. Compl. (“Compl.”) 4, ECF No. 17. Aircraft engine parts were manufactured in the Greenfield facility from 1953 or 1954, when the facility was founded by California Aircraft Products (“CAP”), until 1988. Id. at 4. In 1964, CAP changed its name to Straza Industries. Id. at 4. Defendant Ametek purchased Straza Industries in 1968.. Id. Defendant Senior Operations subsequently purchased the Ametek property in or around 1998. Am. Mot. Exs. 2-3.

Plaintiffs allege that from 1963 to 1985, owners of the Ametek property used a sump to temporarily store' toxic waste which consisted of a 12 feet in diameter and 10 feet deep hole in the ground. Compl. 5. The hole was lined with redwood planks on the sides and had &■ poured concrete base. Id. Plaintiffs allege that between- 1963 and 1985, Defendants or their predecessors dumped up to 7,000 gallons of waste per month into- the sump, including' (a) spent acid and alkaline solutions; (b) industrial chlorinated solvents; (c) 1, 1, 1,- tricholorethane (“TCA”); (d) trichloroe-thylene (“TCE”); (e) tetrachloroethylene (“PCE”); (f) oils; (g) paint thinner; and (h) process sludge. Id. at 5. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the nature of the sump, Plaintiffs allege that the waste stored therein deteriorated and breached the sump, resulting in toxic waste seeping and percolating into the surrounding soil, fractures in the granite rock, and into the groundwater over the subsequent years. Id. at 6.

Plaintiffs allege that Defendants’ waste discharge caused a massive waste plume, including the largest TCE plume in the State of California. Id. at 7. Plaintiffs allege that the plume “extend[s] 1.3 miles westward and down-gradient” and includes large amounts of TCE, 1,1-dichloroetyhl-ene (“DCE”), dioxane, and TCA, as well as smaller amounts of PCE, 1, 1-dichloroe-thane (“DCA”), benzene, toluene, ethylben-zene, and xylene. Id.

State authorities have been aware of the waste discharge from the Ametek property since at least the 1980’s. Id. at 9. In 2008, the California Regional Water Quality Control Board for San Diego ’County (“Water Board”), which oversees the identification and monitoring of groundwater contamination, remediation, and ensuring compliance with California Water Code, see, e.g., 23 C.C.R. § 640; 23 C.C.R. § 2907; Cal. Water C. § 13300, et seq., [1005]*1005filed an Administrative Liability Complaint which charged Defendants with failure to install a. sufficient monitoring well network to delineate the extent of the waste plume and failure to take “any efforts to cleanup and abate the effects of their discharge” despite “20 years of investigation efforts” and Defendants being “repeatedly advised” that their monitoring and remediation efforts were deficient. Id. at 9. The Complaint stated that Defendants “failure] to act appropriately” had resulted in “a condition of pollution and contamination, in the ground, water beneath the El Cajon Valley with continuing impacts to the existing beneficial uses of the. San-tee/El Monte Basin.” Id. The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (“DTSC”), which has oversight of remediation of toxic contamination, has also been monitoring the waste plume. Id. at 10.

Greenfield, Starlight, and Villa Cajon are mobile home parks due west, west-northwest, and west-northwest respectively of the Ametek facility. Id. at 23, 25. Plaintiffs allege that the mobile home parks are down-gradient of the Ametek facility and the waste plume flows directly underneath all three mobile home parks. Id. at 24.

Magnolia Elementary School (“Magnolia”) is immediately adjacent to the Ame-tek property and directly in-between the mobile home parks and the Ametek facility. Id. at 25. ‘Plaintiffs • allege that - the waste plumes are also directly beneath Magnolia. Id. On May 7, 2015, DTSC held a Community Update Meeting at Magnolia where the agency presented -results from ongoing monitoring of toxic vapor intrusion into the school. Id. at 13. The presentation -included information as to how vapors from toxic plumes can enter cracks in the ground of a building and affect the indoor air quality. Id. The presentation explained that PCE is a carcinogen and TCE is a “carcinogen, reproductive and developmental toxin.” Id. at 14. The presentation also showed that the cancer risk from toxic vapor intrusion inside Magnolia was increasing, from 4.5 parts per million in August 2014 to 5.6 parts per million in March 2015, with a temporary spike in December 2014 to 42 parts per million. Id. at 15. Finally, the DTSC presentation included a slide showing that the cancer risk level was veering from the “Acceptable” (no further action required) to “Unacceptable” (further action required) range during this time, although the cancer risk level had not yet.crossed the threshold into the “Unacceptable” zone. Id. In the intermediate zone where the cancer risk levels measured from August 2014 to March 2015 were located, the slide described the situation as one where “the site specific conditions drive the decision.” Id. On June 1, 2015, the Board of Governors of the Cajon Valley Union School District voted unanimously to close Magnolia for the 2015-2016 school year because of the risk of toxic vapor intrusion. Id. at 1.

Plaintiffs allege that the same chemicals that have been found under the Magnolia site have also been found in the sub-surface soil and groundwater under Greenfield, Starlight, and Villa Cajon. See id. at 26-30.-Plaintiffs also allege that the various chemicals found in the waste plume and by vapor monitoring have been found by federal agencies, including the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (“ATSDR”) and the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), to have toxic health effects. Id. at 20.

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145 F. Supp. 3d 1000, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 156805, 2015 WL 7313409, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/greenfield-mhp-associates-lp-v-ametek-inc-casd-2015.