MacDonald Construction Co. v. Warnecke

212 F. Supp. 595, 1963 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6895
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedJanuary 10, 1963
DocketNo. 60C 201(1)
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 212 F. Supp. 595 (MacDonald Construction Co. v. Warnecke) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
MacDonald Construction Co. v. Warnecke, 212 F. Supp. 595, 1963 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6895 (E.D. Mo. 1963).

Opinion

HARPER, Chief Judge.

This suit was instituted in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis by MacDonald Construction Company, a Missouri corporation, and Tunnicliff Construction Co., an Iowa corporation, a Joint Venture, plaintiffs, against George W. Warnecke, a citizen and resident of the State of New York, to recover $76,-604.27. The suit was removed to this court and this court has jurisdiction since there is diversity of citizenship and more than $10,000.00 involved.

Before the trial plaintiffs abandoned their claim for $8,604.27 pertaining to a ten-inch sewer line built for defendant at Owega, New York. The case was tried to the court with the plaintiffs seeking to recover $68,000.00, with interest, consisting of $25,000.00 paid by plaintiffs for an easement and $43,000.00 paid by IBM to defendant for the right to discharge industrial waste into defendant’s outfall sewer line, which latter sum the plaintiffs contend the defendant promised to pay to plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs, contractors, entered into a contract with defendant to build a sanitary sewage treatment plant and an outfall line from the plant at Owega, New York. After the sewage has been treated the product is called “effluent” and runs from the plant through the outfall line. The plaintiffs and defendant signed a contract (Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 1), dated April 26,1956, which the parties stipulated was the contract for the construction. At the time the construction began on the sewage plant in May of 1956, the plans were not fully completed, but in due time the plans were completed and presented to the State Board of Health for approval. The plant was completed in the fall of 1956, delivered to the defendant, and the contract price of $250,000.00 was paid by defendant to the plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs here seek to recover additional money arising out of the construction of the outfall line. The outfall line as built was built from the plant to the Susquehanna River, and in addition to carrying the effluent from the sewage plant, was cut into between the plant and the river by a line from the IBM plant for the purpose of emptying industrial waste from the IBM plant into the outfall line. It was not contemplated by the parties when the contract was originally negotiated and drafted that the outfall line would carry the industrial waste from the IBM plant.

The $43,000.00 figure which was paid by IBM to the defendant was paid as a result of negotiations in the latter part of 1956, resulting in an agreement whereby IBM paid to the defendant $43,000.00 for the right to build a line across a small part of the defendant’s property and to [597]*597cut into the outfall line and discharge its industrial waste into it.

The defendant contends that under the contract the plaintiffs were entitled only to the $250,000.00 as provided by the contract, which has been paid.

The parties are in disagreement with respect to where the original outfall line was to discharge, the plaintiffs contending that as originally contemplated the outfall line would end at Barnes Creek some five to seven hundred feet from the sewage plant, the defendant contending that there was no specific agreement as to where the outfall line was to end, but that it was to be built to the Susquehanna River, if necessary.

The credible testimony discloses that it was originally contemplated that the line would end at Barnes Creek. The authorities for the State of New York in the early stages of the planning for the plant tentatively agreed that the line could end at Barnes Creek and the effluent be dumped into the creek. It was only after IBM planned the dumping of its industrial waste into Barnes Creek that the State of New York authorities withdrew their approval and indicated that the line would have to go to the Susquehanna River for the dumping of both the effluent and the industrial waste.

While at the trial the defendant would have one believe that the use of Barnes Creek was never definitely contemplated, but only hoped for, the exhibits in this case do not support defendant’s position. The change of the end of the line from Barnes Creek occurred only after IBM sought to discharge its industrial waste into the creek. While this case was pending before the late Judge Weber, the defendant filed a motion for a change of venue, and in his memorandum in support of the motion, on Page 1, in setting forth the facts stated: “The effluent from the plant was to go into a creek 150 yards from the plant.”

The original flow diagram (Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 2) shows the line from the plant to Barnes Creek. Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 4, a letter written by the defendant to IBM on September 26, 1956, has this to say:

“For your information I might add that in February and March, at the time the negotiations on the plant rental were finalized, we had assurance from the State without any conditions, that the discharge from the sanitary waste could be made into the creek. This was reaffirmed on another occasion. It was only when the effort was made to have the State approve the spilling of industrial waste into the creek with its possible toxic effects that the State rescinded the approval on the basis that if the industrial waste could not be dumped the sanitary could also not be dumped in order to treat both on an equal basis, although they acknowledge that the sanitary waste is of a grade which would not be harmful.”

The length of the line as built to the Susquehanna River was some 3,200 feet in length, requiring the contractor to build a line twenty-five to twenty-seven hundred feet longer than had it been built to Barnes Creek. It was also necessary to secure the right of way beyond the creek on which to build the line. There is also a dispute between the parties as to whether the size of the outfall line was increased as a result of the accommodation of the IBM industrial waste. The defendant contends that the size of the line was not increased, but the credible testimony clearly discloses that the size of the line was changed from a ten-inch line to a twelve and fifteen-inch line to accommodate the added volume after it was agreed that the line would also carry the industrial waste.

Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 24, a copy of a letter written by the defendant to IBM, completely refutes the testimony of the defendant that the size of the line was not increased. The letter written on September 20, 1956, refers to the fact that a ten-inch line was adequate and would have been approved by the state. Plans for the line as finally built were drafted by engineers furnished by the [598]*598defendant after the agreed change in the use of the line.

The defendant’s testimony with respect to the size of the line is indicative of most of his testimony at the trial. Where there are documents dealing with the same subject matter his testimony was seldom supported by the documents. An examination of the affidavit filed by the defendant in support of the application for change of venue is further indicative of his testimony. In the affidavit he stated that in order to try the case he would have to have the testimony of eleven New York witnesses, yet at the trial not one of them was produced, either in person or by deposition. In fact, no depositions were taken of any of the eleven witnesses.

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Related

Warnecke v. MacDonald Construction Co.
323 F.2d 715 (Eighth Circuit, 1963)
WARNECKE v. MacDONALD CONSTRUCTION COMPANY
323 F.2d 715 (Eighth Circuit, 1963)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
212 F. Supp. 595, 1963 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6895, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/macdonald-construction-co-v-warnecke-moed-1963.