Wall v. Sunoco, Inc.

211 F.R.D. 272, 55 ERC (BNA) 2112, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22372, 2002 WL 31608054
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 20, 2002
DocketNo. 3:01CV809
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 211 F.R.D. 272 (Wall v. Sunoco, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wall v. Sunoco, Inc., 211 F.R.D. 272, 55 ERC (BNA) 2112, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22372, 2002 WL 31608054 (M.D. Pa. 2002).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

MUNLEY, District Judge.

Before the court for disposition is the plaintiffs motion for class certification. The plaintiff is Tina Wall who seeks to sue on her behalf individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated. The defendants are Suno-co, Inc. and Sun Pipe Line Co. The matter is ripe for disposition having been fully briefed and argued. For the reasons that follow, the motion will be denied.

Background

According to the plaintiff the facts are as follows: On January 19, 2000, a valve ruptured on defendants’ pressurized gasoline pipeline spraying a geyser of gasoline into the air throughout the Back Mountain area in Jackson Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. The rupture released between 4,500 to 5,500 gallons of gasoline. As a result, gasoline containing the additive methyl tertiary butyl ether (“MTBE”) vaporized into the air and many people were exposed to toxic levels of MTBE. Based upon these alleged facts, the plaintiff claims that those who were exposed to toxic levels of MTBE should have their health monitored to provide for early detection and treatment of neurotoxicity caused by MTBE.

Defendant Sun Pipe Line, Co. has conceded liability for the release. The only issue therefore’is whether medical monitoring is warranted. Plaintiff requests a court-managed medical monitoring program funded by the defendants. Plaintiff filed this lawsuit as a class action and now moves for class certification.1

Jurisdiction

We have jurisdiction over the instant case because plaintiffs claims are based in part on a federal law, the Oil Pollution Act, 33 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq., and pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331, district courts have original jurisdiction of all civil actions arising under the laws of the United States.

Discussion

In order for this case to be maintained as a class action certain prerequisites must be met by the plaintiff. These are set forth in Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a). Once those prerequisites are met, the plaintiff must establish that [274]*274it is a proper case to be maintained as a class action as set forth in Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b). We shall address these two sections of Rule 23 separately.

A. Requirements of Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a)

Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a) the following must be established for certification of a class:

1) A class so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable (Numerosity);

2) Questions of law and fact common to the class (Commonality);

3) The class representative’s claims or defenses must be typical of the claims or defenses of the class (Typicality); and

4) The class representative must “fairly and adequately” protect the interests of the class (Adequacy).

Plaintiff bears the burden of establishing these elements. Baby Neal for and by Ranter v. Casey, 43 F.3d 48, 55 (3d Cir.1994), and she claims that all the requirements have been met. On the other hand, the defendant asserts that none of the elements have been met in the instant case. We address each factor below, seriatim.

1. Numerosity

Plaintiff must first establish that the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable. Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a). The law provides no minimum number of plaintiffs to maintain a suit as a class action, but generally if the named plaintiff demonstrates that the potential number of plaintiffs exceeds forty, the first prong of Rule 23(a) has been met. Stewart v. Abraham, 275 F.3d 220, 226-27 (3d Cir.2001), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 122 S.Ct. 2661, 153 L.Ed.2d 836 (2002). Thus, to establish numerosity, plaintiff must demonstrate the number of people in the proposed class.

In the instant case, the complaint, identifies the class as: “All persons who resided and were present in the Class Affected Area on January 19, 2000. The Class excludes: (1) Defendants, their officers, directors, and current employees; (2) all attorneys and their staff involved in this litigation and (3) the presiding judicial officer and the presiding judicial officer’s staff. The Class Affected Area is defined by reference to the Air Model Map, which is attached to this Complaint as Exhibit ‘A’.” Compl. 1129.

Plaintiffs complaint asserts that the air modeling indicates that persons within .53 miles of the release were exposed to medically significant levels of “gasoline vapors.” Compl. ¶ 31. The complaint further states that the class consists of approximately five hundred (500) persons who live within that .53 mile radius. It is the plaintiffs burden on the motion for class certification to establish that these assertions are true and justify certifying the class. Baby Neal, 43 F.3d at 55. In other words, she must establish the boundaries of the class affected area and the number of people who were present in the area.

The map plaintiff refers to in order to define the class affected area contains a series of concentric circles as well as a narrow ellipse shaded pink. In her initial brief, plaintiff explains that “[t]he elliptical shaded area on the Ar Model Map represents persons who were probably exposed to more than two parts per million [MTBE] based on wind direction and other calculations.” PI. Brief in Support of Class Cert. at 5. According to the plaintiff, 2 ppm MTBE is a medically significant amount exposure which justifies inclusion in the class.2

Plaintiff then proceeds to assert that the class certification includes the .53 mile radius around the station where the rupture occurred which is an area larger than the area of the pink ellipse. This later assertion is consistent with the Plaintiffs First Amended Class Action Complaint, para. 31-32. The ring on the map that corresponds to a .53 mile radius contains a portion of the pink ellipse. Plaintiff does not explain why the [275]*275full radius needs to be considered when her brief states that it is the people in the ellipse who were exposed to 2 ppm MTBE. Moreover, plaintiff presents no evidence of the number of houses present in the ellipse or in the total .53 mile radius.

Defendants note that at best only nine structures are present in the plaintiffs ellipse. Def. Ex. E, Report of Mark Garrison, para. 29 (stating that the “area affected by the plume... is mostly uninhabited and includes no more than nine identifiable structures.”) In her reply brief, the plaintiff contends that 100 homes are located within a .53 mile radius.3 In reply, she also presents the affidavit of Dr. Fthenakis.

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Bluebook (online)
211 F.R.D. 272, 55 ERC (BNA) 2112, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22372, 2002 WL 31608054, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wall-v-sunoco-inc-pamd-2002.