Town of Princeton v. Monsanto Co., Solutia

202 F. Supp. 3d 181, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 105618, 2016 WL 4250250
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedAugust 10, 2016
DocketCivil Action No.: 15-cv-40096
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 202 F. Supp. 3d 181 (Town of Princeton v. Monsanto Co., Solutia) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Town of Princeton v. Monsanto Co., Solutia, 202 F. Supp. 3d 181, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 105618, 2016 WL 4250250 (D. Mass. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Denise J. Casper, United States District Judge

I. Introduction

Plaintiff Town of Princeton (“Princeton”) has filed this lawsuit against Defendants Monsanto Company, Solutia Inc. and Pharmacia Corporation (“Pharmacia”) (collectively “Defendants”) alleging breach of the implied warranty of merchantability (defective design), breach of the express warranty of merchantability (failure to warn), negligence and violation of the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act based upon Defendants’ conduct in manufacturing and distributing a chemical called poly-chlorinated biphenyls (“PCBs”). D. 1. Defendants now move to dismiss. D. 15. For the reasons stated below, the Court DENIES in part and ALLOWS in part the motion.

II. Standard of Review

On a Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, the Court assesses whether the facts alleged “plausibly narrate a claim for relief.” Schatz v. Republican State Leadership Comm., 669 F.3d 50, 55 (1st Cir.2012) (citation omitted). That assessment requires a two-step, context-specific inquiry. See Garcia-Catalan v. United States, 734 F.3d 100, 103 (1st Cir.2013). The Court begins by separating the factual allegations in the complaint from the conclusory legal allegations. Id. The factual allegations are accepted as true, while legal conclusions may be disregarded. Id. Moreover, the Court “draw[s] all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiffs.” Gargano v. Liberty Int’l Underwriters, Inc., 572 F.3d 45, 48 (1st Cir.2009) (citation omitted). Taken together, the factual allegations must give rise to the “reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Haley v. City of Boston, 657 F.3d 39, 46 (1st Cir.2011). The claim must be, in essence, “plausible on its face.” Garcia-Catalan, 734 F.3d at 103. “In determining whether a [claim] crosses the plausibility threshold,” the Court is instructed to “draw on its judicial experience and common sense.” Id. at 103 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

“Affirmative defenses, such as the statute of limitations, may be raised in a motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of [186]*186Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), provided that the facts establishing the defense [are] clear ‘on the face of the plaintiffs pleadings.’ ” Santana-Castro v. Toledo-Davila, 579 F.3d 109, 113-14 (1st Cir.2009) (alteration in original) (quoting Trans-Spec Truck Serv., Inc. v. Caterpillar, Inc., 524 F.3d 315, 320 (1st Cir.2008)) (internal quotation marks omitted). Dismissal based upon timeliness is appropriate where “the pleader’s allegations leave no doubt that an asserted claim is time-barred.” LaChapelle v. Berkshire Life Ins. Co., 142 F.3d 507, 509 (1st Cir.1998) (citations omitted). If “the dates included in the complaint show that the limitations period has been exceeded and the complaint fails to ‘sketch a factual predicate’ that would warrant the application of either a different statute of limitations period or equitable estoppel, dismissal is appropriate.” Santana-Castro, 579 F.3d at 113-14 (quoting Trans-Spec Truck Serv., 524 F.3d at 320) (internal quotation marks omitted).

III. Factual Background

The following allegations are taken from Princeton’s complaint and accepted as true for the purposes of this motion. Princeton is a town existing under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. D. 1 ¶ 5. Princeton is the owner of the Thomas Prince School (“Prince School”), an elementary school for approximately 380 students. D. 1 ¶¶ 5, 38. Pharamacia is a Delaware limited liability company with its principle place of business in Peapack, New Jersey. Id. ¶ 6. Solutia Inc. is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in St. Louis, Missouri. Id. ¶7. Today Monsanto Company1 is known as Pharmacia. Id. ¶ 3. Monsanto Company and Solutia, Inc. are affiliated companies that have assumed liabilities related to the historical manufacture of PCBs. Id.

Plaintiff alleges that from 1935 to 1978 Monsanto Company was the exclusive manufacturer of PCBs in the United States. Id. Princeton further alleges that PCBs are odorless and tasteless man-made chemicals that have been used in a wide range of industrial applications. Id. ¶¶ 12, 14. Between 1950 and 1978, products containing PCBs were widely used in the construction and renovation of buildings, including school buildings, throughout the United States. Id ¶¶ 15-16. By the late 1960s, public researchers had begun questioning the safety of PCBs. Id. ¶ 29. Effective January 1, 1979, Congress banned most uses of PCBs and authorized the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) to apply restrictions to the usage of PCBs. Id. ¶ 31. In 1996, the EPA concluded that PCBs are “probable human carcinogens.” Id. ¶ 19. On September 25, 2009, the EPA issued a press release “advising school administrators about the presence of PCBs in school buildings built between 1950 and 1978.” Id. ¶ 2. Concurrent with the press release, for the first time the EPA published public health levels for PCBs in school indoor air. Id.

PCBs have been demonstrated to affect the immune system, decreasing resistance to pneumonia and infections and increasing the risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Id ¶ 21. PCBs are also associated with elevations in blood pressure, serum triglycerides and serum cholesterol. Id. ¶25. The neurological effects of PCBs, to which children are particularly vulnerable, include significant deficits in visual recognition, short-term memory and learning. Id. ¶ 23. [187]*187PCBs have several characteristics, including migration and degradation patterns, that render exposure to the chemicals increasingly risky as times passes. Id. ¶ 17. Princeton alleges that in 1977, Old Monsanto had discontinued the manufacture of PCBs, although the company’s PCBs continued to be sold and distributed through the end of 1978. Id. ¶ 31. Princeton further alleges that as early as the 1930s Old Monsanto knew of the toxicity of PCBs, yet willfully failed to provide adequate warnings. Id ¶¶ 27-28.

The Prince School was originally constructed in 1962. Id. ¶ 39. Princeton alleges that tests conducted at the Prince School in April 2011 detected PCBs at concentrations in excess of 50 parts per million in window caulking and glazing. Id ¶40. Those detection levels exceeded the PCB levels authorized by the EPA. Id In June 2011, additional samples taken at the Prince School confirmed the presence of PCBs in window caulking and demonstrated that PCBs were also present in joint caulking. Id. ¶41. In response to these high detection levels in the building materials, indoor air samples were collected from the six classrooms for which windows were scheduled to be replaced as part of the Prince School’s window replacement project: those indoor air samples were also found to contain concentrations of PCBs above advisory levels established by the EPA. Id ¶ 42.

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202 F. Supp. 3d 181, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 105618, 2016 WL 4250250, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/town-of-princeton-v-monsanto-co-solutia-mad-2016.