Opinion ID: 174796
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Plaintiffs' Trespass Claims

Text: Defendants next argue the district court erred in failing to require Plaintiffs to prove physical damage to the property as part of their trespass claims. According to Defendants, this is because Plaintiffs can only pursue intangible trespass claims, given the nature of the contamination at issue. The court reviews this question of law de novo. Martinez, 572 F.3d at 1132. We note Defendants' position that Plaintiffs must establish physical damage to the property as an element of their trespass claims overlaps with the PAA's damage to property standard. A plaintiff, however, is not limited to proving damage to property in order to proceed with a PAA claim. Rather, a plaintiff may establish any of the injuries listed in 42 U.S.C. § 2014(q) to meet the PAA's threshold requirement of proving a nuclear incident occurred. For instance, a plaintiff who establishes a loss of use of their property has met his threshold requirement under § 2014(q), but must still prove physical damage to the property in order to prevail on a Colorado intangible trespass claim. Accordingly, we proceed to the issue of whether Plaintiffs' trespass claims must be tried under an intangible trespass theory. The parties agree that to prevail under a traditional Colorado trespass claim, a plaintiff must establish only a physical intrusion upon the property of another without the proper permission from the person legally entitled to possession. Van Wyk, 27 P.3d at 389. A plaintiff need not establish any injury to his legally protected interest in the land or damage to the land itself. Id. In Van Wyk, the Colorado Supreme Court recognized the viability of trespass claims involving invasions that are intangible, such as noise, radiation, or electromagnetic fields. Id. at 390. Unlike a traditional trespass claim, however, the court made it clear an intangible trespass claim requires an aggrieved party ... to prove physical damage to the property [was] caused by such intangible intrusion. Id. Defendants argue the instant case can only proceed as an intangible trespass claim, requiring the plaintiff class to establish the existence of physical damage to their properties in order to prevail. Consequently, we must determine whether the Colorado Supreme Court would require a trespass claim involving the invasion of plutonium particles onto real property to proceed as a traditional or intangible trespass claim. In Van Wyk, the Colorado Supreme Court defined intangible invasion in the context of the plaintiffs' inverse condemnation claim, and the court held that invasions in the forms of noise, electromagnetic fields, and radiation waves are intangible invasions. Id. at 387. The court explained: The meaning of the term intangible is something that is impalpable, or incapable of being felt by touch.... We conclude that noise, despite being perceptible through hearing, is impalpable, and thus, intangible. Similarly, we also conclude that electromagnetic fields and radiation waves emitted by powerlines are intangible. Neither electromagnetic fields nor radiation waves produced by electric lines can be perceived by any of the senses. Instead, they are both similar to television and radio waves, which surround us at all times but which are completely imperceptible.... While such waves and fields might have some sort of physical effect upon the body, electromagnetic fields and radiation waves of the type at issue here are ubiquitous and our senses are incapable of perceiving them. As such, we agree ... that electromagnetic fields and radiation waves emitted by powerlines are intangible intrusions upon land. Id. at 387-88 (citations omitted). In recognizing that other jurisdictions permitted trespass claims involving intangible intrusions to proceed, the Colorado Supreme Court did more than examine cases involving non-physical intrusions such as noise, electromagnetic fields, and radiation waves. The court also examined cases involving the deposit of particulate not visible to the human eye, as well as the deposit of radioactive materials. Id. at 390. At no time did the court in Van Wyk draw a distinction excepting these impalpable intrusions from its general analysis. It is clear from the Colorado Supreme Court's discussion of this issue in Van Wyk that, under Colorado law, whether a trespass claim falls under the traditional rubric or must be pursued as an intangible trespass is determined by whether the intrusion is palpable. Plaintiffs do not dispute that the plutonium particles present on their properties are impalpable and imperceptible by the senses. Although we recognize the particles in question have mass and are physically present on the land, our interpretation of Colorado law compels us to conclude that because the particles are impalpable, the trespass alleged here must be tried as an intangible trespass. Consequently, Plaintiffs are required to prove actual physical damage to their properties in order to prevail on their trespass claims. Plaintiffs argue the discussion of intangible invasions in Van Wyk should not control because a more recent case, Hoery v. United States (In re Hoery), 64 P.3d 214 (Colo.2003), recognized that contamination physically present within property supports a traditional trespass claim. In Hoery, the Colorado Supreme Court's decision addressed only the two narrow questions certified by the Tenth Circuit pertaining to whether the contamination of the property constituted a continuing trespass or nuisance. We agree with Defendants that, in Hoery, the Colorado Supreme Court treated the presence of contaminants as if it were not in dispute. Indeed, the decision explains, For purposes of answering the certified questions before us, no dispute exists about whether the United States released TCE into the ground and by doing so, invaded Hoary's property. Id. at 222. Because no dispute existed, the Hoery court only examined whether the facts in question could support a claim that the trespass or nuisance was continuing. The case does not stand for the proposition that impalpable contamination of property constitutes a tangible invasion that can be tried as a traditional trespass claim. In fact, it is not clear from Hoery whether the contamination in question was impalpable. The Colorado Supreme Court never discussed the issue because it was not presented. Jury Instruction No. 3.3 directed that to prove their trespass claims, Plaintiffs are not required to show that plutonium is present on the Class Properties at any particular level or concentration, that they suffered any bodily harm because of the plutonium or that the presence of plutonium on the Class Properties damaged these properties in some other way. This was erroneous as a matter of Colorado law and on remand, Plaintiffs shall be required to prove the plutonium contamination caused physical damage to the property in order to prevail on their trespass claims. Van Wyk, 27 P.3d at 390.