Opinion ID: 1213751
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Stringfellow cases.

Text: In an action initiated in 1983  United States v. J.B. Stringfellow (U.S. Dist. Ct. (C.D.Cal.)) No. C-83-2501 HLH  the United States and the State of California sued Montrose and numerous other businesses under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (42 U.S.C. § 9601 et seq.; hereafter CERCLA), as well as various state environmental law provisions, seeking reimbursement for response costs incurred pursuant to the investigation, removal, and remediation of toxic waste contamination at and near the state-licensed class I hazardous waste disposal site known as the Stringfellow acid pits in Riverside County. The government also seeks damages for injury to natural resources, abatement of conditions, and cleanup at and near the Stringfellow site. The basis for the federal law claim against Montrose is strict liability under CERCLA for generating toxic waste shipped to the site. The Stringfellow waste disposal site opened in 1956 and closed in 1972. Chemical wastes generated by Montrose were deposited there between 1968 and 1972, when Montrose paid a hauling company to transport byproducts of its DDT manufacturing process to the state-approved and licensed disposal facility. As early as 1970, toxic wastes were detected seeping from the site, and in 1975 the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board declared the site a public nuisance. It is noteworthy that the Stringfellow site was selected and designed as a hazardous waste disposal facility by the State of California, and that the site was used for that purpose by many defense contractors. In 1989, the State of California was found jointly and severally liable for the cleanup, both on strict liability and various fault-based common law grounds, due to its actions in designing, licensing and supervising the facility. According to the allegations of the CERCLA complaint, the property damage commenced in 1956 and continued throughout the periods when Admiral's CGL policies issued to Montrose were in effect. No bodily injury is alleged in the CERCLA action. In a second lawsuit, a consolidated private party toxic tort action  Newman v. J.B. Stringfellow (Super. Ct. Riverside County, No. 165994MF) [5]  numerous plaintiffs seek damages from Montrose and other defendants for bodily injury and property damage alleged to have resulted from the release of contaminants at the Stringfellow site. Plaintiffs allege that the bodily injury and property damage occurred on a continuous basis, commencing in 1956 and extending to the present. Specifically, plaintiffs allege that 27 wrongful deaths occurred between 1982 and 1986 (the period Admiral's policies were in effect), and that property damage was continuous throughout that same period. Although both Stringfellow cases involve allegations of progressively deteriorating property damage [6] caused by contaminants being released into, or migrating through, soil, groundwater, and surface water, only Newman v. Stringfellow additionally seeks damages for bodily injuries. According to the plaintiffs in both Stringfellow cases, between February 1982 and February 1983, the concentration of trichloroethylene (a suspected human carcinogen) tripled in the groundwater located between the Stringfellow site and the town of Glen Avon. On August 31, 1982, six weeks prior to commencement of the policy term under the first of Admiral's policies issued to Montrose, Montrose was notified by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it considered Montrose a potentially responsible party (PRP) for money expended for response activities at the Stringfellow site. At about the same time, Montrose notified its environmental impairment liability (EIL) carrier, International Insurance Company, about the Stringfellow allegations, but did not notify Admiral. [7]