Confidential
Verdict – $0Judge
Court
L.A. Superior Long Beach
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
James R. Rosen
(Rosen Saba, LLP)
Howard G. Smith
(Law Offices of Howard G. Smith)
Kyle A. Cruse
(Schmid & Voiles)
Experts
Plaintiff
Benjamin Ladinig
(technical)
Dale Hinkle
(technical)
Defendant
Greg Peale
(technical)
Matthew R. McCullough
(Winston & Strawn LLP)
(technical)
L. Peter Petrovsky
(technical)
Facts
The plaintiff owned and operated an Atlantic Richfield Co. gas station, mini mart and mechanics garage on his
property in Long Beach.
Environmental assessments indicated ground water and soil contamination under the property.
In 1996, the city of Long Beach ordered the site to be cleaned up. The plaintiff contracted with defendant All
Environment Inc. (AEI), an environmental consulting and engineering firm to implement a decontamination
plan. AEI subcontracted the decontamination project to defendant BioTreatment Inc. (BTI).
In order to comply with federal legislation, the plaintiff was required to remove and replace his underground
storage tanks. The plaintiff contracted with defendant Kennedy to remove and replace his underground storage
tanks with double-walled tanks and to repave the station. Kennedy excavated, removed the old storage tanks
and installed new storage tanks. AEI installed pipes above and below the new storage tanks.
During the construction, the plaintiff's gas station canopy was destabilized and damaged. Kennedy's equipment
allegedly ran into the canopy.
After the construction was completed, the plaintiff re-opened his gas station on Aug. 10, 1998.
The concrete over the project site cracked and sank causing damage to the property and storage tanks. Kennedy
returned to the site to repair the site and the tank leak detection system. Sounding alarms indicated tank
leakage.
The plaintiff bypassed the automatic shut-off system which allowed the plaintiff to continue dispensing
gasoline.
Because of the suspected leakage, the bioremediation processes was stopped. Something caused extensive
damage to the property, which remains contaminated to this day.
According to defendant AEI, the damage was caused by concrete and soil settlement.
According to the plaintiff, the damage was caused by the leakage.
Damages
Plaintiff claimed damages totaling $460,000. Plaintiff claimed $242,000 for replacement and reinstallation of the underground storage tanks, $69,000 for replacement of the station canopy, and $34,000 for already incurred repairs. Plaintiff alleged $83,000 in lost profits and $16,500 in penalties for failure to meet his ARCO sales quota. Defendants argued that, if liable, the damages were limited to cost of repair of the canopy.
Result
The jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendants. A motion for nonsuit was granted in favor of BioTreatment Inc. at the close of the plaintiff's case.
Other Information
PLEASE PROVIDE THE CITY OF LOCALE OF EXPERTS: Peter Petrovsky __________, Matthew McCullough ___________, Greg Peale _________
Deliberation
one hour
Poll
12-0 (no negligence)
Length
10 days
For reprint rights or to order a copy of your photo:
Email
jeremy@reprintpros.com
for prices.
Direct dial: 949-702-5390