State v. Fermenta ASC Corp.

238 A.D.2d 400, 656 N.Y.S.2d 342, 1997 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3875
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedApril 14, 1997
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 238 A.D.2d 400 (State v. Fermenta ASC Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Fermenta ASC Corp., 238 A.D.2d 400, 656 N.Y.S.2d 342, 1997 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3875 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

—In an action, inter alia, for the abatement of a public nuisance, (1) the defendants appeal, as limited by their brief, (a) from so much of an order of the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (Werner, J.), dated January 4, 1994, as denied that branch of their motion which was for summary judgment dismissing the complaint, (b) from so much of an order of the same court, dated July 28, 1994, as denied that branch of their motion which was to dismiss the first, second, and third causes of action asserted by the plaintiff Suffolk County Water Authority to recover damages for public and private nuisance, and (c) from so much of an order and judgment (one paper) of the same court (Oshrin, J.), entered November 8, 1995, as, inter alia, after a nonjury trial on the issue of liability, was in favor of the plaintiff the Suffolk County Water Authority and against them on the cause of action to recover damages for trespass and directed a trial to determine the amount of damages, (2) the plaintiffs State of New York and Thomas C. Jorling, as Commissioner of Environmental Conservation, cross-appeal as limited by their brief, (a) from so much of the order dated January 4, 1994, as denied their motion for summary judgment, and (b) from so much of the order and judgment as, after a nonjury trial on the issue of liability, dismissed their cause of action to recover damages for public nuisance, (3) the plaintiff Suffolk County Water Authority separately cross-appeals, as limited by its brief, (a) from so much of the order dated July 28, 1994, as dismissed, in part, its cause of action to recover damages for trespass and nuisance per se, and (b) from so much of the order and judgment as, after a nonjury trial on the issue of liability, dismissed its cause of action to recover damages for public and private nuisance, and (4) the plaintiff County of Suffolk cross-appeals, as limited by its brief, from so much of the order and judgment as dismissed its cause of action to recover damages for public nuisance.

[401]*401Ordered that the appeals and cross appeals from the orders dated January 4, 1994, and July 28, 1994, are dismissed, without costs or disbursements; and it is further,

Ordered that the order and judgment entered November 8, 1995, is affirmed insofar as appealed and cross-appealed from, without costs or disbursements.

The appeals and cross appeals from the orders dated January 4, 1994, and July 28, 1994, must be dismissed because the right of direct appeal therefrom terminated with the entry of the order and judgment on November 8, 1995 (see, Matter of Aho, 39 NY2d 241, 248). The issues raised on the appeal and cross appeals from these orders are brought up for review and have been considered on the appeal and cross appeals from the order and judgment (see, CPLR 5501 [a] [1]).

The groundwater in Suffolk County contains a synthetic organic compound known as tetrachloroterephthalic acid, or TCPA, which is a natural byproduct of Dacthal, a widely-used agricultural herbicide manufactured and distributed exclusively by the defendants. State regulations enacted in 1989 provide that the groundwater concentration of unspecified organic contaminants, including TCPA, may not exceed 50 parts per billion. It is undisputed that as early as 1979, TCPA was present in the Suffolk County water supply in amounts far in excess of that regulatory standard.

In September 1989 the plaintiffs State of New York (hereinafter the State) and County of Suffolk (hereinafter the County) commenced this action, sounding in nuisance per se and common-law public nuisance, to enjoin further sale and use of Dacthal and to recover for damages caused by the contamination. After the defendants answered, the plaintiffs moved, and the defendants cross-moved, for summary judgment. By order dated January 4, 1994, the Supreme Court, Suffolk County, denied the motion and the cross motion and directed that the action proceed to trial.

The Suffolk County Water Authority (hereinafter SCWA), which closed some of its wells when it became aware that the TCPA contamination violated the regulatory standards, intervened as a plaintiff, seeking damages for, among other things, nuisance per se, common-law public and private nuisance, and trespass. The defendants moved to dismiss SCWA’s complaint for failure to state a cause of action. By order dated July 28, 1994, the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (Werner, J.), dismissed the fourth and fifth causes of action to recover damages for trespass and for nuisance per se, with leave to replead the fourth cause of action for trespass, and [402]*402otherwise denied the motion. SCWA did replead its trespass claim and the case proceeded to trial on the issue of liability.

Before trial the defendants moved to dismiss the amended complaint of SWCA on the grounds that the claims were either preempted by Federal law or barred by the applicable Statute of Limitations. The defendants also sought, in limine, to exclude the testimony of several expert witnesses to be presented by the State and County at trial. The court reserved judgment on these motions, and the trial proceeded.

The principal issue at trial was whether TCPA in the amounts detected in the water supply posed a health threat to humans. Both sides presented the testimony of expert witnesses who had reviewed the limited toxicology studies performed on laboratory animals. The plaintiffs’ experts opined that TCPA, in the amounts detected, presented a hazard to human health. The defendants’ experts testified that the studies were flawed, inconclusive, or indicative of the fact that TCPA was a harmless substance. At the conclusion of the trial, the court dismissed all of the causes of action asserted on behalf of the State and County, finding that the plaintiffs’ witnesses were less credible than the defendants’ witnesses. The court, however, sustained the cause of action to recover damages for trespass asserted by SCWA and directed a trial on damages.

We agree with the trial court that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 USC § 136 et seq. [hereinafter FIFRA]), did not preempt the trespass claim asserted by SCWA. FIFRA preempts only those State tort actions which seek to recover damages based upon the adequacy of pesticide warning labels (see, 7 USC § 136v; Warner v American Fluoride Corp., 204 AD2d 1, 12-13; Sirico v Beckerle Lbr. Supply Co., 227 AD2d 396). The trespass claim asserted by SCWA merely sought to recover the costs associated with the defendants’ interference with the operation of its wells, and had nothing to do with warnings or labels. As such, it was not preempted by FIFRA.

Moreover, the cause of action to recover damages for trespass was not barred by the Statute of Limitations. The claim of SCWA for damages for trespass is governed by the three-year Statute of Limitations contained in CPLR 214-c, which began to run at the date of discovery of its injury (see, CPLR 214-c [2]; Jensen v General Elec. Co., 82 NY2d 77). Whether the violation of the regulatory standard which SCWA first discovered in 1991 was an "outgrowth, maturation or complication” of the original contamination of the groundwater was a question of fact for the trial court (see, Bimbo v Chromalloy Am. Corp., 226 [403]*403AD2d 812). Since the evidence presented at trial could have supported a finding that the violation of the regulation constituted a separate and distinct injury, we decline to disturb the determination of the trial court that the trespass claim of SCWA was asserted in a timely fashion.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Atlantic Richfield Co.
Vermont Superior Court, 2018
Suffolk County Water Authority v. Dow Chemical Co.
121 A.D.3d 50 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2014)
Overocker v. Madigan
113 A.D.3d 924 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2014)
Suffolk County Water Authority v. Dow Chemical Co.
35 Misc. 3d 307 (New York Supreme Court, 2012)
City of New York v. A-1 Jewelry & Pawn, Inc.
247 F.R.D. 296 (E.D. New York, 2007)
Restrepo v. Rockland Corp.
38 A.D.3d 742 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2007)
Bano v. Union Carbide Corp.
361 F.3d 696 (Second Circuit, 2004)
Bano v. Union Carbide Corporation
361 F.3d 696 (Second Circuit, 2004)
People v. Sturm, Ruger & Co.
309 A.D.2d 91 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2003)
PEOPLE OF STATE OF NY EX REL. SPITZER v. Kraeger
160 F. Supp. 2d 360 (N.D. New York, 2001)
DiStefano v. Nabisco, Inc.
282 A.D.2d 704 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2001)
Princeton Upholstery Co. v. Drew Chemical Corp.
261 A.D.2d 464 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1999)
Chenango, Inc. v. County of Chenango
256 A.D.2d 793 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1998)
Oliver Chevrolet, Inc. v. Mobil Oil Corp.
249 A.D.2d 793 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1998)
Town of Oyster Bay v. Occidental Chemical Corp.
987 F. Supp. 182 (E.D. New York, 1997)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
238 A.D.2d 400, 656 N.Y.S.2d 342, 1997 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3875, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-fermenta-asc-corp-nyappdiv-1997.