Myrtle Beach Pipeline Co. v. United States

32 Cont. Cas. Fed. 73,014, 6 Cl. Ct. 363, 1984 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1292
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedOctober 3, 1984
DocketNo. 26-83C
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 32 Cont. Cas. Fed. 73,014 (Myrtle Beach Pipeline Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Myrtle Beach Pipeline Co. v. United States, 32 Cont. Cas. Fed. 73,014, 6 Cl. Ct. 363, 1984 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1292 (cc 1984).

Opinion

OPINION

LYDON, Judge:

This case comes before the court on motion by Emerson Electric Co. (Emerson), [365]*365third-party defendant, to quash the notice issued to it under RUSCC 14(a)(1) and to dismiss it from this case. Defendant opposes said motion. Plaintiff, Myrtle Beach Pipeline Co., filed no written response to said motion but advised, at oral argument it was neutral as to said motion. Following oral argument, the court concluded that the motion to quash was denied.

As of January 15, 1981, plaintiff and defendant had contracted for the delivery to defendant at the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base (MBAFB) of fuel oil via plaintiff’s pipeline. On January 15, 1981, during the course of delivering fuel oil via plaintiff’s pipeline to storage tanks on the MBAFB, some 104,396 gallons of fuel oil spilled to the ground and was lost. Defendant’s contracting officer rendered a final decision that plaintiff owed the government $128,-453.02, plus interest, for the fuel which was not delivered as required by contract. Before the contracting officer, plaintiff contended it was not responsible for the undelivered fuel under the contract since it was not negligent in the delivery of said fuel. Plaintiff claimed that the fuel was lost because the weld seam on an air eliminator was defective and caused the rupture which led to the fuel leak.1

Since plaintiff was contending that the fuel loss was not due to its fault or negligence, but instead was due to faulty equipment supplied by Emerson, defendant “noticed in” Emerson since it “appeared to have an interest” in the pending action, i.e., the suitability of the air eliminator it manufactured for the purpose intended. It is this notice to which Emerson’s motion to quash is directed.

The key factor in use of the notice provision in RUSCC 14(a)(1) is that the third-party to whom the notice is directed “appear to have an interest” in the proceedings. Philadelphia Suburban Corp. v. United States, 211 Ct.Cl. 354, 355 (1976). If such an appearance of interest is present, a motion to quash such a notice by a third-party and dismiss it from the case will be denied. See Uram v. United States, 216 Ct.Cl. 418, 419, 421 (1978); Puritan Associates v. United States, 214 Ct.Cl. 735, 736 (1977); Philadelphia Suburban Corp. v. United States, supra; Midwest Indus. Painting of Florida v. United States, 1 Cl.Ct. 209, 211-212 (1983). See also Carrier Corp. v. United States, 209 Ct.Cl. 267, 269-270, 534 F.2d 250, 251-252 (1976). In Houston Lighting & Power Co. v. United States, 205 Ct.Cl. 844, 845 (1974), the Court of Claims allowed a third party’s motion to quash and dismissed said third party from the action “with the provision that such dismissal is with prejudice to the third-party’s right to relitigate any matter determined in these proceedings.” Emerson, in this case, was opposed to any dismissal in this case incorporating such a provision. In this case, the court is persuaded that Emerson does have an interest in the question of whether the air eliminator it manufactured and sold to plaintiff for use in installation of the meter on plaintiff’s pipeline was defective and thus responsible for the fuel loss which is the subject matter of the action between plaintiff and defendant. The court’s finding of such an interest, combined with Emerson’s refusal to accept the option of a dismissal with the above proviso convinces the court that the motion to quash should be denied.

It is immaterial, when the notice provisions of RUSCC 14(a)(1) are utilized, that the court does not have jurisdiction to grant relief to Emerson, that Emerson can decline to appear, that Emerson cannot be forced to appear and participate in the action, and that Emerson may be nonetheless bound in a later suit in another court by certain determinations made in this case by this court.2 See Bowser, Inc. v. United [366]*366States, 190 Ct.Cl. 441, 445, 446, 420 F.2d 1057, 1060-1061 (1970). The notice provision gives Emerson the opportunity, without compulsion to appear in this litigation and protect its interests. Uram v. United States, supra, 216 Ct.Cl. at 420. This option rests with Emerson.

Plaintiffs suit against defendant in this case is brought pursuant to section 609(a)(1) of the Contract Disputes Act of 1978, 41 U.S.C. § 601 (1982) (CDA). Recognizing the impact of the above-cited precedents, Emerson contends these precedents were deprived of their vitality by the passage of the CDA. Emerson argues that this court’s jurisdiction over CDA appeals is expressly limited by 28 U.S.C. § 1491(a)(2) to “any claim by or against, or dispute with, a contactor.” Since Emerson is not a “contractor” in this case and does not, at the time, have any dispute with plaintiff or defendant, the court does not have subject matter jurisdiction over Emerson and the “notice” issued herein therefore should be quashed. There is nothing in the language of the CDA or its legislative history which suggests in any way that Congress intended to change the existing settled case law relative to third-party practice in the Court of Claims, which settled law has been adopted by this court. See South Louisiana Grain Services v. United States, 1 Cl.Ct. 281, 288 (1982). Moreover, as indicated previously, the fact that this court does not have subject matter jurisdiction over Emerson is immaterial when a notice provision is issued.

Plaintiff, like all the third-party defendants who received “notices” in the above-cited case, bemoans the fact that it is unseemly to “pull” Emerson into the litigation when the court has no jurisdiction over it at peril of perhaps being bound, in a later suit in another court, by certain determinations of this court relative to matters in which it has an interest. However, the answer to this “indignation”, lies in the rationale behind the issuance of a notice, which is “the prevention of numerous proceedings and determination on an identical set of facts. Thus it in furtherance of the conservation of judicial time and effort that the Court of Claims determines that notice shall issue where interest is apparent.” Philadelphia Suburban Corp. v. United States, supra, 211 Ct.Cl. at 355. Further, the Court of Claims in Bowser, Inc. v. United States, supra, 190 Ct.Cl. at 446, 420 F.2d at 1060-1061 declared that its third-party practice notice holding was in accord with general principles of law applicable to situations where a person, who has an interest in the subject matter of a litigation and may be injuriously affected by a determination rendered therein and has notice of the pendency of the action, and yet, refuses or neglects to appear and avail himself of his rights to appear and participate nonetheless will be concluded by the judgment and the determinations reached therein even though he was not named as a party to the action. These principles of law, incorporated into the notice provisions of RUSCC 14(a)(1) and applicable case law, may be found, as the Court of Claims observed in the Bowser case, supra, in many decisions of the Federal courts. There is nothing unfair or unconstitutional about this third-party practice.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
32 Cont. Cas. Fed. 73,014, 6 Cl. Ct. 363, 1984 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1292, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/myrtle-beach-pipeline-co-v-united-states-cc-1984.