Modern Sewer Corp. v. Nelson Distributing, Inc.

109 P.3d 11
Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided February 7, 2005·No. 53085-2-I·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

109 P.3d 11 (2005)
125 Wash.App. 564

MODERN SEWER CORPORATION, a Washington Corporation, and
Marvin Sims, individually and Marvin Sims d.b.a. Modern Sewer Construction Company Inc. a Washington Corporation, Respondents,
v.
NELSON DISTRIBUTING, INC. d.b.a Nelson Distributing, a Washington Corporation, Appellant.

No. 53085-2-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

January 3, 2005.
Publication Ordered February 7, 2005.

Bradley Alan Maxa, Gordon Thomas Honeywell, Tacoma, for Petitioner.

David Newell Land, John R. Spencer, Spencer & Loescher PLLC, Tacoma, for Respondents.

Steven J. Thiele, Asst. Atty. Gen., Olympia, Amicus Curiae on behalf of Wash. Dept. of Ecology.

Gillis Edward Reavis, Brown Reavis & Manning PLLC, Seattle, Amicus Curiae on behalf of Wash. Environmental Council.

APPELWICK, J.

¶ 1 Modern Sewer Corporation hired Nelson Distributing to provide petroleum to its gas station in Mukilteo, Washington. Nelson Distributing did not pump the 2000 gallons of gasoline Modern Sewer ordered into the underground storage tank (UST); instead, it mistakenly pumped all 2000 gallons into a monitoring well and into the ground. Modern Sewer Corporation sued under the Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA). Nelson argued *12 that the MTCA did not apply because it does not provide a definition of "disposed" commensurate with Nelson's actions, and requested the trial court to dismiss Modern Sewer's MTCA claim for failure to state a claim under which relief could be granted. The trial court denied the motion. We affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2 Modern Sewer Corporation (Modern Sewer) hired Nelson Distributing Inc. (Nelson Distributing) to provide 2000 gallons of gasoline to its gas station in Mukilteo, Washington. Nelson Distributing delivered the gasoline as requested, but instead of pumping it into the UST Nelson Distributing pumped the 2000 gallons of gasoline into a monitoring well and subsequently into the ground.

¶ 3 A Modern Sewer employee noticed that the gasoline pumps were not working about two days later. Modern Sewer contacted an independent contractor to help them discover the problem. The independent contractor checked the UST with a measuring stick and informed Modern Sewer that the gasoline pumps were not working because the UST was empty. Nelson Distributing admitted that it had unintentionally pumped the gasoline into the monitoring well and delivered an additional 2,000 gallons to the UST at no extra cost.

¶ 4 Shortly after confronting Nelson Distributing, Modern Sewer received a complaint from a downhill tenant about gasoline smell. An investigation of this complaint uncovered a large amount of gasoline in the surface water drain system.

¶ 5 Modern Sewer filed a complaint against Nelson Distributing in which it alleged that Nelson was liable for pumping the 2000 gallons of gasoline into the ground under the MTCA. Nelson Distributing moved to dismiss Modern Sewer's complaint for failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted. The trial court rejected Nelson Distributing's motion to dismiss and this appeal followed.

ANALYSIS

I. Standard of Review

¶ 6 "A trial court's ruling on a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted under CR 12(b)(6) is a question of law" that we review de novo. Cutler v. Phillips Petroleum Co., 124 Wash.2d 749, 755, 881 P.2d 216 (1994). Courts should dismiss under this rule only when it appears beyond a reasonable doubt that no facts exist that would justify recovery. Cutler, 124 Wash.2d at 755, 881 P.2d 216.

II. Disposal Under RCW 70.105D.040

¶ 7 Nelson Distributing argues that RCW 70.105D.040(1)(c) does not apply to its actions because Nelson Distributing did not "dispose" of the gasoline under the meaning of the statute. RCW 70.105D.040(1)(c) provides:

Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, the following persons are liable with respect to a facility:
. . .
Any person who owned or possessed a hazardous substance and who by contract, agreement, or otherwise arranged for disposal or treatment of the hazardous substance at the facility, or arranged with a transporter for transport for disposal or treatment of the hazardous substances at the facility, or otherwise generated hazardous wastes disposed of or treated at the facility[.]

¶ 8 The "Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) defines `disposal' to include `the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, [or] leaking' of hazardous waste." MTCA is modeled after CERCLA and the act that amended CERCLA, the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA). Nelson Distributing argues that the fact that certain CERCLA provisions were omitted from MTCA gives rise to the inference that they were intentionally rejected. In support of its argument, Nelson Distributing cites Bird-Johnson Corp. v. Dana Corp., 119 Wash.2d 423, 833 P.2d 375 (1992). The Washington Supreme Court in Bird-Johnson *13 addressed whether a private right of action existed under MTCA although MTCA contained no language creating that right. Bird-Johnson, 119 Wash.2d at 426-27, 833 P.2d 375. SARA, however, does contain language creating such a right. Bird-Johnson, 119 Wash.2d at 427, 833 P.2d 375. The Court stated:

It is noteworthy that these 15 words from SARA which created an express right of contribution were not inserted into the MTCA. The MTCA's drafters could easily have included language providing for contribution, especially since SARA provided a ready model, but they did not. The omission of these words is a clear indication that the MTCA's drafters did not intend to adopt CERCLA's more expansive contribution provision.

¶ 9 Thus, Nelson Distributing argues, we may not adopt a meaning of the word "disposal" that is as broad as the definition given in CERCLA. Instead, it urges us to give the word "disposal" its "ordinary meaning: to discard or throw away."

¶ 10 We agree with Nelson Distributing that an omission from MTCA of the CERCLA/SARA language defining "disposal" creates an inference that the initiative creating MTCA did not intend to incorporate the CERCLA/SARA definition. We also agree that an undefined statutory term must be given its ordinary meaning, taking into account legislative purposes that are explicitly included in the statute. Dep't of Ecology v. Campbell & Gwinn, L.L.C., 146 Wash.2d 1, 10-11, 43 P.3d 4 (2002).

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Modern Sewer Corp. v. Nelson Distributing, Inc., 109 P.3d 11 (Wash. Ct. App. 2005).

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