Opinion ID: 3010909
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Testimony by Zygmunt Wozniak in the Exxon case

Text: indicates that materials were moved from the PPG plant to the Turnpike for construction, and that the dump trucks returned to the site quickly. A. at 1040-41. However, PPG has provided further deposition testimony indicating that Wozniak never had any conversations at all with the persons who actually transported the material; that he was not certain that the trucks he saw at the Turnpike were the same as the trucks he saw at the PPG plant; that he did not recognize any of the people driving the dump trucks to the Turnpike; and that some of the COPR fill used at the Turnpike came from somewhere other than the PPG plant and that at least some of his knowledge was based on hearsay. A. at 4sa-10a. Even giving the Turnpike the benefit of all reasonable inferences from these evidentiary proffers, the testimony is _________________________________________________________________ 24. In a footnote in its reply brief, the Turnpike says that Kordulak testified, in no uncertain terms, that PPG's waste was delivered to Site 20 both during and after the time the PPG facilities was in operation and that PPG's COPR remained on site as late as 1981. See also Jersey City Redevelopment Authority v. PPG Indus., 65 F. Supp. 1257 (D.N.J. 1987) (finding that PPG's COPR was being taken from the Garfield Avenue facility in 1975). The Turnpike notes that,This testimony is in portions of the transcript not provided to the Court by PPG. It then states, We would be pleased, if requested, to provide the Court with the entire transcripts of Kordulak's and Wozniak's depositions. We note that this evidence is not in the record before and it is not for the court to request the parties to augment their proof. 25 deficient in several respects: it is vague and imprecise, of questionable reliability, and therefore not sufficiently probative to create an issue for trial. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. 242, 249-50 (1986) (stating that summary judgment may be granted if evidence is merely colorable or is not significantly probative); Blackburn v. United Parcel Service, 179 F.3d 81, 95 (3d Cir. 1999) (citing Philbin v. Trans Union Corp., 101 F.3d 957, 961 n.1 (3d Cir. 1996)) (noting that a hearsay statement that is not capable of being admitted at trial should not be considered at summary judgment stage); Armbruster v. Unisys Corp., 32 F.3d 768, 777 (3d Cir. 1994). In sum, we find that the evidence produced by the Turnpike is insufficient to prove the nexus required for the Turnpike to recover from the appellees under either CERCLA or the Spill Act, nor is this evidence sufficient to show that each of these appellees acted in a tortious manner within the meaning of these statutes toward these sites such that an alternative liability theory would be appropriate. We note, further, that we also concur with the District Court's conclusion that the Turnpike may not be the innocent plaintiff that in fairness should be permitted to take advantage of alternative liability. As the District Court noted, the Turnpike is a PRP in this case, and a joint tortfeasor; as such, it may very well be inappropriate to utilize an alternative liability theory, which is meant to apply to wholly innocent plaintiffs, to shift the burden of proof to its fellow tortfeasors in a contribution action. We also note that the Turnpike clearly did not do all that it could to prove causation such that a burden shifting approach should be utilized in this matter.25 The Turnpike's _________________________________________________________________ 25. As the District Court noted: Unlike in the traditional alternative liability scenario, the lack of proof of causation here is not due to the Defendant' conduct. In fact, [the Turnpike] is in a better position than the Defendants to ascertain the source of the COPR at each site, because [the Turnpike] is the present owner and operator of all seven sites and was the entity that contracted to receive the COPR that is the source of the contamination. See Blanks v. Murphy, 632 A.2d 1264 (App. Div. 1993) (rejecting burden shifting because plaintiff was in a better position to determine the cause of its injury). 16 F. Supp.2d at 471. 26 lack of diligence clearly militates against a finding that alternative liability should be applied here. The Turnpike was made aware of the presence of COPR at some of the sites at issue in 1984, yet did not file suit in this matter until 1993, and the process of its fact finding in this case has been less than impressive. A. at 271a. Cf. Larton v. Blue Giant Equip. of Canada, Ltd., 599 F. Supp. 93, 95 (E.D. Pa. 1984) (declining to apply alternative liability theory, in part because it was not apparent that plaintiff could not identify the manufacturer through the exercise of reasonable diligence); Abel, 343 N.W.2d at 173 (stating that plaintiffs must make a genuine attempt to identify the tortfeasor responsible for the individual injury, and a finding of a lack of diligence would preclude utilization of alternative liability theory in future DES cases); Bixler v. Avondale Mills, 405 N.W.2d 428, 431 (Minn. Ct. App. 1987) (finding eleven year delay before filing suit made court reluctant to adopt alternative liability theory). The Turnpike has, quite simply, not done enough. The Turnpike has, instead, asked us to rewrite the burdens that a litigant must meet under the CERCLA and the Spill Act, and the burden placed upon a plaintiff when alternative liability is applicable, to make up for the shortcomings in its proof. We will not do so. We will affirm the order of the District Court.